Before the Dark Times
by AlexL61
Summary: "We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are." Who are you really, Sirius Black? There are several OC characters intermixed with the character's we know and love to change it up! Slytherin!Harry, Harry/Daphne, Draco/Hermione
1. The One Where Sirius Saves Harry

**AN:** Okay, so here is the first chapter of my Harry Potter story, "Before the Dark Times". I decided to rebrand and edit some of these early chapters because to better illustrate what my overall goal of this fanfic is. This fic casts a darker shadow on the Wizarding World, while also putting focusing on the wizarding families that are casting that shadow.

In essence, disclaimers do not prevent a writer from getting sued by a publishing company. However, in the interest remaining a member of this site, I will mention that my fanfiction is classified as "derivative work" under the Copyright Act and I am using the Harry Potter book series as a basis for this story. I am have not and will not gain anything of monetary value from this site. Any other cameos or quotes from different works are also changed to fit this story.

This is a Grey!Harry story with Slytherin!Harry. There are several OC characters as you can only rehash the story so many times with the same characters. I hope you enjoy. This story will go through all 7 years and maybe a bit after.

Pairings: Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass (3rd/4th year), James LeStrange and Astoria Greengrass (4th/3rd Year), Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger (beginning 5th year), Sebastian Nott and Tracey Davis (6th year), Sirius Black/Amelia Bones

 _ **Prologue: Before the Dark Times – Operation: Give Prongslet a Childhood**_

 **Late Night, October 31** **st** **, 1981 – Godric's Hollow**

There was a soft _pop_ as Sirius Black apparated to the front steps of the Potter's Residence in Godric's Hollow. It was eerily quiet, only punctuated by the muffled wails of a small child. The cold wind brushed against the twenty year-old's face, causing his hair to stand on end and his dark black locks to swish behind him. It was October 31st, 1981. Halloween as the muggles, and some wizards, called it. To Sirius, it would be the night he would remember as the night his whole world fell apart.

As he entered the humble home, the signs of battle were evident. The front door stood wide open and his best friend, James Charlus Potter, lay on the floor; his life extinguished by what looked to be a Killing curse. The man who he had spent the last ten years of his life with, spent numerous hours pranking, laughing, and scheming with to get Lily's heart, was now dead. His life snuffed out by Dark Forces unknown, but Sirius knew it had to have been the Dark Lord himself. As he rubbed his eyes, Sirius knelt down and passed his hand over his friend's eyes, closing them slowly. He looked one last time before standing and solemnly walking up the stairs…

Sirius reached the top of the stairs and the cries of the child became louder. The cries were overshadowed, however, by a cry of a man's voice. It was a deep voice, not unlike his own. _James is dead! Who else could be here?_ Sirius thought as his wand shot from his wrist holster into his hand. He slowly walked down the hall towards Harry's room.

The results of the Dark Lord's attack were apparent. Debris was everywhere with pictures on the ground and ash about. The walls, which once were adorned with family pictures of Harry, James and Lily with their friends, were now scorched which looked like battle damage. Sirius would have to come back and grab some of these things if Harry was indeed alive…

He reached entrance of Harry's room, its door blown off its hinges. He could see right inside and was shocked by what he saw: a black clad man holding the body of Lily Potter.

"SEVERUS! HOW DARE YOU!" Sirius screamed at the sobbing man, his wand already aimed right at him, "HOW DARE YOU HOLD HER!"

Severus Snape, the Death Eater turned spy for the Order of the Phoenix and Albus Dumbledore, didn't have enough time to react before a Bone crushing cruse slammed into his head. He slumped to the ground, his skulled having been caved in and bleeding. Sirius looked at the body before using his foot to push Snape's now mostly dead body off Lily. He looked at his best friend's wife, desperately trying not to cry. The woman who had become his sister, his confidant, and his friend. Her face was just as pretty as he remembered it and he slowly pushed her red hair off her face.

"Lily, please come back! I don't think I can live without you and James, Lily. Please, I'm begging you…" Sirius said as he fell to his knees and picked up her body, cradling it in his arms. Tears were now streaming down his face as he finally allowed what had happened to affect him. His best friends were dead.

"I'm so sorry Lily. I'm sorry I couldn't stop him. I should have been here!" he slammed his fist onto the floor as he cradled her body. A soft wind blew through the house almost whispering to him. He felt as if there were two hands on each of his shoulders. As he turned around however, the feeling was gone. He looked to where the he had felt the Potters, and saw their son. Harry Potter…

The one year-old had stopped crying and was staring at his Uncle Padfoot. Sirius smiled as he looked into the eyes of his godson. "Did anyone ever tell you that you have your mother's eyes?" He smiled as he rubbed across his eyes with his right sleeve, removing the tears that had been streaming down his face. Sirius gently laid Lily back onto the floor of the nursery before standing and making his way over to the cradle. He picked up the small child and cradled him in his arms. "It's okay Pronglet, Uncle Padfoot is here. I'll take care of you, I promise."

Sirius sat down in ornate rocking chair that he had seen James and Lily use to rock Harry to sleep time and time again. Memories flooded back to him as he sat. The day Lily had brought Harry back from St. Mungo's, his first words, his first steps… He was still holding the little boy and began rocking with him, singing a song he had heard Lily sing once before.

 _Leaves from the vine, falling so slow, like fragile tiny shells, drifting through the foam. Little auror boy, come marching home, brave auror boy, come marching home._

As he looked down at Prongslet, who was fast asleep, Sirius again let himself go. He began to sob for everything that had happened. His best friends were dead. He would get revenge, on everyone who had ever stood against him, but not that night. Tonight, he had to ensure Harry's safety.

Suddenly, he heard a loud bang from below him on the first floor followed by an "Ouch". _Hagrid. Merlin help me._ He continued to rock back and forth with Harry in his arms as he heard the oaf creak his way up the stairs. It seemed that the Half-Giant was attempting to be sneaky, but was failing miserably. _Kind of hard to be sneaky when you weigh 30 stone,_ Sirius laughed lightly as Hagrid made his way into the room that contained Padfoot and Pronglet.

"Oh, Sirius. Wasn't expectin' you being 'ere." Hagrid said in his heavy accent (which Sirius barely could understand) as he looked from Sirius to the body of Snape and Lily, "Oh Dumbledore isn't gonna be happy about that. Not in the slightest."

"Is that all you're worried about? Dumbledore's response?" said Sirius, venom coming off his tongue. "Two of my closest friends are dead, dying to protect their only son. Another of my 'friends' betrayed them, allowing the Dark Lord access to their safe haven! How dare you!"

"Sirius, I 'ave orders from Dumbledore to take Harry to 'im. 'e must be protected." Spoke the half-giant as he reached for Harry.

"You're not taking him anywhere! This is all Dumbledore's fault!" His voice could barely croak out the words, barely holding back his tears, "I am his Godfather! I will protect him!"

Hagrid was taken aback by the refusal but pushed harder, "Dumbledore knows what's best Sirius, you of all people should know this." He reached for the child once again, but this time was met with a wand aimed at his throat.

"You. Will. Not. Touch. Him." Sirius spit out as he held Harry close to his chest.

"Sirius. You must trust 'im. It's for the greater good." Hagrid said as he almost lunged at Sirius.

" _EXPULSO!_ " Sirius screamed and pushed all of his magical power into the spell. The spell slammed into the chest of the half-giant, throwing him through the wall into James and Lily's room. Sirius swore under his breath as he panted for a moment. _Why do giants have to be so big?_ He thought as he peaked into the master bedroom, making sure that the half-giant had at least been knocked out.

"Well Pronglet, looks like Dumbledore knows we're here. We better get out of here before more of his friends show." Sirius said as he poked the tip of Harry's nose with his index finger, "I know the perfect place for us to go lay low for a bit."

He walked out the room, leaving the two dead bodies, the unconscious half-giant, and a bleeding Severus Snape behind, and walked down the stairs. As they neared James' body, Harry cooed out a "Dada!" as he looked at his father.

"Yeah, Pronglet, we'll avenge them. Don't you worry." He said as he walked out the front door. As they reached the street, Sirius looked back at the house, "I'll protect him until my dying breath. Don't you worry." He smiled as he apparated away…

 **Early Morning, November 1** **st** **, 1981 – Potter Manor**

Sirius arrived at the old Potter Manor, a house he had fled to a mere five years ago. It seemed like home to him, much more than the Black Manor at 12 Grimmauld Place. The Potters had allowed him to seek refuge from his evil mother, Walburga Black, and had took him in when he was sixteen. They did it with no questions asked, however he did tell them about what had happened. Charlus Potter about marched over the Black Manor himself, before Mrs. Potter had stopped him. It was the greatest summer of Sirius' life. The Potters were the greatest people ever; Sirius had thought at the time. They didn't judge him, berate him about getting sorted into Gryffindor, or even yell. They seemed like the perfect family.

As he walked towards the gate, he could feel the power of the wards. They were some of the most powerful he had ever seen, barring those at Hogwarts. Some were as Ancient as the house itself (and lethal), while others were much newer and protective. He stopped at the gate. _I should still be keyed into the wards, plus I have Prongslet with me!_ He thought as he gently placed his hand on the gate. When he did so, the hand print slowly turned a bright gold before disappearing. The gate slowly began to open to Sirius and the little Lord Potter.

"Welcome home Harry, welcome home…" he trailed off as the pair made their way up to the Manor.

 _ **A short walk later…**_

"Geez, Harry. When did you get so big?" Sirius said as he adjusted the one year-old for the fifth time, "And since when was Potter Manor so far away from the gates? Merlin. I'm getting old."

The manor slowly loomed into view as he had walked the quarter-mile from the gate to the house. It was even grander than Sirius had remembered… It was a beautiful dark red brick color with massive white-circular pillars lining the front of it. It stood an impressive three stories tall with a few towers jutting into the sky. It was truly a sight to be seen. As he neared the front door, a small house elf appeared with a _pop._

"Misters Black has returned! Oh, Nibby is being very happy!" Nibby, the young house elf said as he smiled up at Sirius. The little elf wore the traditional garb of a House of Potter elf, a green shirt with green pants. Sirius had once remarked to James that they looked like fatigues from the Muggle military. James had just laughed and transfigured a nametag onto the front of the uniforms so they would look even more like it.

"Hello Nibby, you remember Harry Potter right? Say hi Harry!" Sirius said as he leaned Harry down to the level of the elf.

"Hi Harrys! Nibs hasn't been seeings yous for ages! Where bes Master and Mistress Potter?" Nibby asked as he tickled the little Harry Potter causing the little boy to giggle.

"Nibby, can you please call the other house elves…" Sirius said as he became very businesslike. Nibs popped away for a moment then returned with three other elves, "I'm sorry to tell you that Lily and James Potter have been killed." All the elves began sobbing, wailing, and grabbing on Sirius' legs, "But, Harry is now the last Potter so you will now serve him. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Misters Black. Nibby and the other elves bes readys to serves Lord Potter," Nibs said as he wiped his eyes with his clothing.

"Okay," Sirius sighed as he looked up at the Potter Manor that would now be his and Harry's home for the foreseeable future, "Nibby, can you go and find the old safe in the Manor and bring me James and Lily's will?" The small house elf nodded and popped away as Sirius slowly pushed open the door to the Manor.

 _For no one living here for a year, it feels very warm,_ Sirius thought as he walked into the massive entry way. It was just as impressive as it had been when he had first seen it. The marble walls and giant Potter banners with their motto, "Audentes Fortuna Iuvat" (or "Fortune Favors the Bold" as Charlus had always translated it) hung on opposite sides of the grand staircase leading up into the second floor. The Potter coat of arms was also printed onto the marble floor below him.

Sirius was pulled from admiring the manor when Nibby popped in front of him, "Nibby bes bringing Master James' will, Misters Black!" The elf smiled and handed Sirius the paper.

"Thank you Nibby," Sirius said as the elf almost died from excitement of being thanked, "could you prepare a room for Harry and myself?"

The elf nodded in the affirmative and apparated away once again, obviously to gather the other elves to fix up the house. The house hadn't fallen into disrepair, as the Potter elves had remained even when James and Lily left and keep the place up, but there was still dust on many of the beds.

Sirius walked through the house towards the library, still holding the little Harry Potter and the will of his late parents. The halls began lighting up with the magic that was contained within the walls. As they reached the door to the house library, Sirius stopped and pushed it open. Suddenly, all the memories of his teenage years came flooding back: Marauders sitting in the chairs reading everything they could about charms to help build their infamous map, Charlus Potter giving them the "talk" about girls at thirteen, and James proposing to Lily where they had spent most of the summer together after their seventh year…

As he set down Harry on the couch and sat down next to him, Sirius unfolded the will and began to read…

 _In the event that the Lord and Lady of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter are found to be deceased, the following actions shall be taken by the solicitors of the House of Potter._

 _Harry James Potter is to be placed into the care of his godfather, Sirius Orion Black. In the absence of his godfather, he is to be placed with his godmother, Amelia Bones. If both are unable to care for Harry, he will be placed into the care of his appointed magical guardian._

 _Sirius Orion Black is to be named Regent of the House of Potter, with all rights and obligations that come with his title. If Sirius is unable to take Regency, Alexander LeStrange will be named Regent._

 _Harry James Potter will be named Lord of the House of Potter when he reaches the age of the majority, with all rights and privileges granted therein._

 _We bequeath 25,000 galleons to Remus Lupin for him to use as he sees fit and it shall be transferred into a vault that is accessible only by him._

 _We bequeath 25,000 galleons to Peter Pettigrew for him use as he sees fit and it shall be transferred into a vault that is accessible only by him._

 _We bequeath 25,000 galleons to Sirius Orion Black for him use as he sees fit and it shall be transferred into a vault that is accessible only by him._

 _We bequeath 25,000 galleons to Alexander LeStrange for him use as he sees fit and it shall be transferred into a vault that is accessible only by him._

 _All properties and investments shall be maintained by the Regent of the House of Potter until the time when the Heir reaches the age of the majority._

 _The Regent of the House of Potter shall retrieve a letter from the Potter Vault to be given to Harry Potter when he receives his Hogwarts letter. The Regent shall also retrieve a second letter from the vault that is addressed to them._

 _This is my and Lily's last will and testament, may Merlin bless you and keep you safe._

When Sirius finished reading, he was already in tears. He knew that Lily and James had named him as the Regent of the House of Potter if anything happened to him as they had talked it over, but reading the will just made it all much more real. He wiped away his tears and stood, "Diggy!"

Another small elf appeared before Sirius. It was much older than Nibby, but was still able. The chosen 'leader' of the Potter house elves, he was fiercely loyal to the house. "Diggy has beens called." He said as he bowed to Sirius, "How may Diggy bes of assistance?"

"Diggy, you will take Harry to bed. I need to go to Gringotts and execute the Potter's will. You are to protect Harry with your life. Stand guard over him until I return." Sirius said as he patted the elf on shoulder, "Allow no one to enter the residence beyond myself."

The house elf nodded and apparated away. Sirius felt the wards suddenly change for a moment, becoming much more charged with magic and he felt the anti-apparition and portkey wards being raised. Several other more powerful wards were enacted, obviously by Diggy to prevent any unwanted visitors.

Sirius looked at the young child sitting on the couch that had played host to his parents and friends for many years before and smiled, "Okay Pronglet, Diggy will take good care of you okay? Uncle Padfoot will be back in a little bit." Sirius patted Harry on the head and kissed it.

Diggy soon reappeared with a blanket, "Okay Master Harry, times for bed!" He picked up the one year-old, and began walking up to the large room that had been prepared for both Harry and Sirius. Sirius watched as Diggy exited before apparating to Gringotts.

 _ **Three Hours Later…**_

The early morning meeting could have gone better, but at least he was able to convince the goblins that Peter Pettigrew was the traitor and didn't deserve the bequeathment he was given. Sirius was named Regent of the House of Potter and was named the young child's magical guardian.

As Regent of the House of Potter, Sirius now had access to all of the Potter wealth and properties. Not like that really mattered to him though, all that mattered was Harry. He had made sure that the Goblins understood that Sirius wanted them to make quality investments in order to gain back some of the gold that was spent on the war effort. As he exited the bank, the sun was barely creeping over the horizon. He took in the early morning air before apparating back to Potter Manor.

When Sirius disapparated, he was standing on the front steps. As he entered, he felt the wards shift to his control, a side effect of being named the Potter Regent. He walked towards the study within the library, Charlus' study. He was never allowed inside when he was a teenager and just hanging out at Potter Manor, not saying that he didn't try to get it. One time, the wards on the room had actually hexed him! But, as he was now Regent, he might as well try to enter.

Sirius reached the door to the study and slowly reached his hand out towards the handle. _Anytime now,_ Sirius thought as he grasped the handle, turned it, and pushed the door open. _Wow, it didn't hex me. This is exciting._

He looked around the medium sized study and was immediately drawn to the Potter crest located on the wall opposite the desk and above the fireplace. As he crossed the threshold towards the crest, the fire roared to life followed by the candles being lit. Sirius paid no attention to these changes and slowly placed his hand onto the crest and it glowed gold before going back to normal. Sirius suddenly felt a wave of magic cascade over him, telling him which wards were active and which are inactive.

As the cascade faded, he reached up and placed his hand once again on the crest. He whispered to the crest, "Fidelius, I am the Secret Keeper". Sirius felt the Fidelius charm come over the Manor and finally felt safe.

 **Early Morning, November 1** **st** **, 1981 – Godric's Hollow**

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the self-proclaimed "Leader of the Light" and Headmaster of Hogwarts walked into the ruined house of his former students. He had sent Hagrid to retrieve the young Potter child some hours ago, and yet the half-giant hadn't delivered him yet. This had surprised the aging wizard, as Hagrid was loyal to a fault and never disappointed. However, when he arrived, he had discovered why the man was held up; he had been thrown through a wall into the now destroyed bed of the Potter's, obviously unconscious. Albus chuckled at the unfortunate situation that Hagrid had found himself in. As he approached, he quickly used the " _Ennervate"_ spell that quickly woke the unconscious half-giant.

Albus allowed Hagrid to stand and regain his bearings before questioning him. However, in the intervening time, he checked the room which had been a nursery. It was mostly destroyed, but the only thing Albus was worried about was the one thing missing: Harry Potter. His worry was also compounded by the mostly-dead man lying next to Lily Potter. _Severus, you fool_ , thought Albus as he looked at the damage to his spy's head, _did you think you could really stop anything?_ Albus quickly transfigured a portkey and whisked away the mostly-dead Severus to the Hogwarts Hospital before continuing.

"Hagrid, please tell me where young Harry is." Albus spoke as he walked back into the hallway staring at Hagrid with a twinkle in his eye.

"I'm sorry Headmaster, Sirius Black was already here when I arrived. I told him that you wanted to take care of Harry, but he won't let him go. That's the last thing I remember," Hagrid said as he dusted off his tunic from laying in the slightly destroyed hallway.

"Do you know where he took Harry?" He was sure Hagrid wouldn't know the answer, but might as well ask.

"No Professor, but he seemed to be exceedingly distraught over the deaths of his friends."

"They were friends of us all Hagrid, but they died to bring an end to this war," Albus said, patting his old student on the arm before walking to the outside of the house, "Now to find them."

 **Three Weeks Later – Potter Manor**

Sirius sat on the couch in the Potter Library with his godson on his lap while they looked through the picture book that Lily and James had created before their deaths. He flipped through the pictures, some of Harry's birth when Sirius had been freaking out over the fact that James wasn't there yet, or when Harry and Neville had had their first playdate. Everybody was smiling back then, even in the middle of a war, there was still joy. Everything had changed when Lily and James were killed… Alice and Frank were rendered insane, by way of the Cruciatus curse, a week later. Neville was now just as orphaned as Harry.

The funeral for Lily and James had been two weeks before and, as much as Sirius wanted to say goodbye with Harry, he didn't want to risk Harry being taken away or attacked. Plus, Albus Dumbledore would be there, and he had NO intention of trying to deal with that white-whiskered wanker.

Albus had been looking for Harry and Sirius for the better part of the last three weeks and had even tried to say that Harry had been kidnapped. However, with Sirius being named magical guardian and regent over Harry, Albus had no real authority. Gringotts had also confirmed that Sirius Black was indeed taking care of the young boy, but wouldn't disclose anything more. The Fidelius charm over Potter Manor also prevented anybody from finding them, but Sirius had sent in his resignation to the head of the DMLE, Barty Crouch Sr., earlier that week so he was now free to just take care of Harry.

"Nibby!" Sirius yelled after walking and taking Harry upstairs for his nap.

"Nibby bes here Mister Black! I is ready to help!" Nibby excitedly said as he popped in from whatever he was doing.

"Nibby, where is James' invisibility cloak?" Sirius questioned the elf, but he already knew the answer to that question. James had given it to Dumbledore for some reason that year, and he planned to get it back.

"Master James' invisibly cloak bes with Professe Albus Dumb-door, Mister Black!" Nibby responded, trying to be as helpful as possible.

"Is there anything else Dumbledore has of the Potter's?" asked Sirius, genuinely curious as if Dumbledore had taken anything else.

"Dumb-door has Potter family pensieve and ze liberary is missing twelve books!"

"Could you retrieve those things from Albus for Harry, Nibby? I would be eternally grateful!"

The elf nodded quickly before apparating away to where ever Albus had hidden the Potter heirlooms. Sirius understood that James had let Albus "borrow" them, but now that his best friend was lying dead in the ground, it was time for the Potters to reclaim them. Plus, if he had the pensieve back, Sirius could show Harry memories of his parents…

It was quiet now in Potter Manor, much like it has been when Harry was napping. The only thing making ambient noise was the fan Sirius had charmed to always run. Keep the air circulating, he had always thought.

He made his way to the study were the letter he had picked up from the Potter vault in Gringotts was laying on the desk. He hadn't had the courage to open it yet, not wanting to know what Lily or James had to say to him. As he slid the ornate letter opener through the opening and broke the wax seal, he watched as two letters slid out…

 _Dear Padfoot,_

 _I'll try and keep it short and simple, but you know me. If you're reading this, then we didn't make it. I don't know when we might have bit it, but in the end, we did. That means that you should be the magical guardian of Harry and regent for the House of Potter. Take care of the Potter fortune and my properties so Harry can inherit them later._

 _Sirius, I just want say that there is no one I would rather have raising my son. You may be a goofy and unserious man, but I know you'll do right by me and Lily. Take him as your own son and teach him how to be a man. Tell him about our adventures at Hogwarts and how the Marauders used to prank everyone. Tell him of how I tried for years to get his mother to love me. Tell him how his parents died, Sirius. Tell him that we care for him and we will always love him. He was, and is, the greatest gift I have ever gotten, besides Lily, and make sure he knows he had his mother's eyes._

 _Take care of him Sirius, but don't just bundle him up in cotton and hide him away. Let him find himself, let him have fun. Take him to the park every once in a while. Put him on a broom and see if he is as good at Quiddich as his old man. Teach him magic and how to be a Lord. Promise me that you'll be the father that I couldn't be, Sirius._

 _Love, Prongs_

As Sirius finished the letter, he felt his heart almost shattering. He picked up the other letter, obviously from Lily as it smelled like lily flowers. He began reading once more, preparing for more waterworks.

 _Dear Padfoot,_

 _As I sit here with James writing these letters, I can't bring myself to think that Harry may grow up without us. I know it's selfish of me, but I want to see him grow up. I want to see him get his Hogwarts letter. I want to see him go out on his first date. I want to see him get married. But, since you're reading this, I won't. Merlin Sirius, I hate this. I thought about making this letter super long and telling you how to raise him and everything, but it really doesn't matter._

 _Please make sure he grows up into a fine man. Teach him to respect women and make sure he doesn't become one of those muggle-haters like everyone seems to be these days. He's a smart boy, make sure you tell him every day that education is important. Teach him to be a great wizard like his dad and DO NOT LET HIM NEAR A BROOM! Love him, take care of him, and treat him as your son._

 _Please keep Harry safe, teach him well, and, most of all, love him as your son._

 _Love you and Harry forever and always, Lily Flower_

Sirius finished reading and was red with anger and tears. It was all Dumbledore's fault. Everything. He had been told about that prophecy. He had been the one to put the Potters in danger. He had tried to take Harry away from him.

Sirius remembered the quote his grandfather, Arcturus had used in regards to the Wizengamot, "Fealty is best declared from the knees of a defeated foe. Those who stand against the House of Black will always be defeated when it has a strong Lord."


	2. The One Where Harry Buys Clothes

**AN** : Thank you to everybody who reviewed, favorites, or followed! I've been hard at work writing chapters. This chapter is written a bit different than my regular chapter writing style as it was written by a friend of mine. Let me know what you think! Remus makes an appearance this chapter but don't expect a ton of him in future chapters.

 _ **Chapter 2: A Marauder's Choice – Operation: Don't Look Stupid**_

 **20** **th** **December, 1985 (5 Years Later)**

Emerald eyes glanced up into the darkness from the satin sheets on his four poster canopy bed. The young child listened intently to the sounds around him. He couldn't quite pinpoint what had awoken him, but it seemed like noises were coming from downstairs. Quietly, he got up, but not before glancing at the clock on his bedside table. _It's five in the morning…geez, Padfoot, what's possibly so important to be up this early?_ He quickly put on his slippers before exiting his room.

He slunk past the portraits of the house, wishing for them to not make a fuss and alert Padfoot to the fact that he was awake. When he arrived downstairs, he was greeted by the site of his honorary father drinking a cup of tea.

"Padfoot? What are you doing up? It's only five in the morning!" His godfather looked up from his cup, startled.

"Merlin, Pup! You scared me there! What about yourself, young man? It's only five in the morning," his godfather smirked slightly, "and you have bedhead."

Harry Potter quickly tried to smooth out what was most likely a very unruly mess of raven-black colored hair so it didn't look like he'd just rolled out of bed, even though he had.

"You woke me up with all the noise you were making. I came down to see what was going on is all." Harry looked at his godfather rather pointedly. "You still haven't told me why _you're_ up." Sirius just smiled a little bigger at the looks he was getting from his godson.

"I'm expecting a rather important bit of mail today, pup. I just wanted to be down here when it gets here. That, and I wasn't really sleeping all that soundly anyway, with Kreacher wandering around the Manor with all his grumbling." Harry rolled his eyes and sat down across the table. He then cocked an eyebrow at him.

"An important bit of mail? What kind of mail is so important that you have to be up this early? The post doesn't arrive until late morning, usually!" Harry's protests only made Sirius chuckle.

"Look at it this way, Harry," Sirius said lightly, "Both of us being up this early will save us quite a bit of time today if the mail I'm waiting on does happen to arrive. Why don't you go clean up a bit, and I'll have the elves start in on breakfast here in a while." Seeing that he wasn't going to get anything more out of his godfather, Harry went back upstairs to clean up.

He threw open his closet to find some clothes, and his broom fell out first, making him step back a bit. He seriously wished he could go flying for a bit, but it was still dark outside and he needed to wait with Sirius for whatever mail was coming. He fondly picked the broom up, and the memory came rushing back to him…

 _…It was his 5_ _th_ _birthday, and his Godfather had told him that he had a very special present in store for him._

 _"It's going to be better than anything I've ever gotten you, pup! Just you wait!" His godfather smiled as he went and fetched a long package from the upstairs study. "Now, I'll have you know that your mother would most absolutely NOT approve of this gift but, I would think it almost a disgrace to your dear old dad if we didn't see what you were capable of. If he had his way, you may have even had one of these long before they were gone."_

He'd been ecstatic at the time, but the broom was looking a little worse for wear. He was hoping that maybe Padfoot would get him a newer one come Yule, but he figured he probably shouldn't get his hopes too high.

As he threw on some clothes that seemed to fit, Harry ran into his attached bathroom and, while standing on his step stool, brushed his teeth before sliding down the banister to the first floor. He took it a wee bit too fast however and slammed into the potted plant at the bottom, resulting in a large crash and a broken pot.

As he stood up and dusted himself off, he heard his Padfoot yell from the kitchen, "And that's why we don't slide down the banister… Merlin, I sound like an actual adult. I need to stop that."

Harry chuckled to himself as he made his way back into the kitchen where Padfoot was now holding a pan high above his head while Diggy the house elf was trying, unsuccessfully, to get it to cook breakfast.

"Misters Black is beings needings to give Diggy the pan! Mister Black is not good at cooking!" Diggy said jumping repeatedly while attempting to get his little fingers onto it, "You is being giving Diggy the pan or Diggy is going to be telling Master Harry!"

"Oh yeah? And what's a six-year-old going to do? Fight me?" Sirius retorted, putting his hand of the elf's head, pushing him farther back from the pan.

"What are you going to be to be telling me Diggy?" Harry said as he sat down at the table, waiting for breakfast to be served. However, he wasn't holding his breath that that would be anytime soon.

The elf stopped jumping and went straight to attention saying, "Master Harry, Mister Black is not being giving Diggy the pan! Diggy was goings to be cooking breakfast, but Mister Black is wanting to burn the breakfast! He should bes letting elves cook breakfast for Master Harry!" Diggy shot an annoyed glare at Sirius who just stood there triumphantly.

"Padfoot, why don't you give Diggy back the pan so he can cook us breakfast? I really don't wanna wait an hour like last time." Harry said as he laid his head down on the table, "I'm just gonna take a nap right here." He mumbled the last bit…

"I want to try to cook, that's why I'm not giving this little devil the pan." Sirius retorted, looking at his godson who now had his head down on the table.

"You is being trying 16 times! I is being counting! Mister Black is very bad at cooking. Or, Diggy guesses, you is very good at burning!" the elf said, a little quieter now that Harry looked like he was taking a short rest on the table.

"I do seem to remember a certain professor telling me that I had a certain knack for pyrotechnics," Sirius said as he brought he pan to his chin, making an almost thinking face with it. At this moment, the elf once again lunged and caught the pan before yanking it away, "Hey! That's mine!"

"No, it is Master Harry's pan. You is takings it and stopping Diggy from makings food!" Diggy said as he popped away with the pan forcing Sirius to go take a seat next to Harry. He was a bit sad now that he couldn't cook, but maybe the elf was a bit right…

Just as he sat down, there was a loud thump followed by a crash from the front parlor window that awoke Harry from his short nap. As Sirius stood, he looked down at Harry, "Ah, I see you have awakened from your eternal slumber."

"I was just resting", Harry groggily said as he pushed himself up from table, "I wasn't sleeping. Just resting. What was that noise though?"

"I betcha that was the mail Harry! I'll race you there!" Sirius said as he ran from the room to the parlor where the thump had come from.

"I'll pass," mumbled Harry as he stumbled into the same room still rubbing his eyes, "What did we get?"

"By retarded Ministry Owl Mail!" Sirius pointed to the knocked out owl that used to be outside the Potter Manor, but was now inside, "An invitation to the Annual Ministry Yule Ball! The grandest bash on the face of Wizarding Britain!"

"That's why you were up at five in the morning?" Harry asked, staring at his godfather with both distain and annoyance, "I'm going back to bed." As Harry turned his back to go back up to his room, Sirius grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.

"Oh, no you are not! We have too much to prepare for now. WE have to go get some dress robes and I got to go Grimmauld Place and get the Black Family stuff AND we have to go the Gringotts to check up on our investments because the financial quarter is ending." Sirius said excitedly until the last part when he almost sounded bored but Harry just looked bored the entire time. "I'll get you some Ice Cream if you come with me!"

"Deal!" Harry said as he shook Sirius' hand, "I want chocolate. It's my favorite." As they made their way back to the kitchen, Diggy popped in front of them and mentioned that the food was ready. It was going to be a big day, so they better eat up!

 _ **Diagon Alley**_

As they purposefully strolled toward Madam Malkin's, Harry looked at his godfather with an exasperated expression.

"Padfoot, you still haven't told me why this event is so important!" Sirius looked at him with a lopsided smile, and continued walking without responding. "I'm being serious, I'd like to know what you're dragging me into if I'm going."

"All in good time, pup; all in good time." Harry rolled his eyes. He supposed he should be used to the noncommittal responses by now, but it never seemed to get any less annoying. He resigned his questioning, knowing he would probably get the full explanation later right before the event.

Sirius pushed open the door to the robe shop, and an older lady looked up at them and smiled. "Ah, Lord Black! It's been quite some time since you have graced little old me with your presence. How may I help you today?"

"Hello, Madam. My godson here needs some proper dress attire for the Ministry Ball this year." He ruffled Harry's hair affectionately, laughing at him when Harry growled in response and tried to fix it. Malkin eyed him briefly before ushering him over to a stool.

"Alright then, let's see what kind of measurements I'm working with here." Malkin set to work while Harry fought not to fidget from discomfort. The look on his godfather's face wasn't helping; Sirius was obviously enjoying watching him squirm. He was so busy glaring at Sirius that he didn't notice when Malkin asked him a question.

"Sorry, say again?"

"I asked if there was any particular color you wanted the apparel to be." Harry shrugged before looking at his godfather.

Sirius chuckled a little before responding. "Why don't we just go ahead and go with the traditional black for the robes, a dark green undershirt, traditional pants, and standard dress shoes. We don't really need anything flashy, we're just trying to make a solid first impression." Malkin nodded, finished her measurements and set off to work. She told the two to come back in half an hour; she'd have it all ready by then. Sirius ushered Harry out the door and down the street. He smirked at his godson.

"I always enjoyed watching her work. It's so fascinating." His godfather's voice was ladled with falsely sweet enthusiasm.

"I'm pretty sure you only enjoyed that experience because it wasn't you being measured and prodded by an overly friendly clothing maker," Harry shot back. Sirius pretended to look affronted before laughing quietly.

"Pup, you're going to find out sooner or later that there are things that are much more uncomfortable than friendly clothing makers; just you wait." Harry paled. He didn't like the sound of that at all. They continued on until they reached the ice cream parlor, and Harry finally got his long awaited chocolate treat. As they sat there and enjoyed themselves, Harry fixed Sirius with as hard of a stare as a six year old could manage.

"Are you gonna tell me what this is all about, or are you gonna pull your usual and give me a crash course right before the main event?" Sirius looked back at him for a moment, and sighed.

"I just don't want you to get too worked up, pup. This is a really big deal for me, for both of us, really."

"But why?"

"Please, Harry. Be patient. I promise you I'll try to explain it when we get home if you can hold out until then." Harry looked displeased for a moment before he nodded once, fairly certain that this was as much as he was going to get out him for now. Sirius checked the time, and stood up. "We should probably get back to Malkin's so we can pick up those clothes." With that, they left the parlor.

* * *

Picking up the clothes was just as bad as getting measured for them, Harry decided. Sirius' attitude hadn't helped much. He had actually _encouraged_ Malkin to fuss over him and get him to try everything on. He was met with more prodding and measuring if things weren't exactly the way they were supposed to be. By the time they left, Harry was sincerely hoping they never had to go back there again. Sirius was quick to put that thought down.

"Oh, that was so much fun! I can't wait to see how much you like getting fitted for school robes when it comes time!" Harry groaned loudly; his godfather just laughed.

"You must be joking. I really don't want to have to go back there. I'll do anything not to go back there ever again." He was basically pleading, but Sirius would not relent.

"It's tradition, pup. You're going to need school robes; Malkin's is the best place around to get 'em!" Sirius laughed loudly at the look of mortification on his godson's face. Harry and Sirius continued to walking down the alley, taking in the sights of the different shops. There was the Quidditch shop, which Harry always stopped at to eye the newest broom or supplies. Even though Sirius never really allowed Harry to go into it, worrying that he may just find some way to convince him that he needed a new broom. Another shop was the Potions store, having little cauldrons bubbling brilliant colors, each filled with a different concoction of ingredients.

As they passed it, Harry called from looking in its window, "Padfoot, what does 'Greengrass Holdings Ltd.' Mean?"

"It means, pup. That House Greengrass owns that store. If you look at several of the other stores, you'll see your family's name as well as mine! As purebloods, a lot of the stores are owned by us. We control almost all of the wealth in the wizarding world!" Sirius replied, peering into the shop. The shop was dark, a characteristic of potion shops it seemed. However, he could barely make out the figure standing at the counter…

"Remus?" Sirius asked in a surprised and hushed voice. He swiftly bustled over to the door and threw it open, giving him an unobstructed view of his old friend. "Remus!" He yelled, garnering the attention of the werewolf.

Remus looked towards the door, surprised by the sudden exclamation of his name. "Sirius, that you? Wow. You look different."

"What up, old buddy! I haven't seen you in forever!" Sirius said as he made his way over to Remus, bringing him into a big bear hug. Remus slightly stiffened at the contact but hugged back.

"Oh, you know. The regular stuff. Got a job here at the potions store. The Greengrasses ignore my furry problem if you know what I mean, which is nice. That and our history during the war, so they just handed me the job." Remus replied, now looking at Harry with interest, "Hey Harry, I haven't seen you since you were tiny! Come here and give Uncle Moony a hug!"

Harry quickly looked to Sirius and back at the strange man before grabbing onto Padfoot's pant leg and hiding behind it. Remus looked slightly put out by Harry's response but quickly recovered, "Still shy, that's okay. Anyway, I should get back to work. Where do you guys live? I'll stop by for Christmas."

Sirius looked slightly concerned for a moment, looking around the shop before whispering in Remus' ear, "Sirius and Harry live at Potter Manor, 15 Marauder Road, Scotland." Remus put on a confused face before realizing it was a Fidelius charm. He nodded and went back to work, with Harry and Sirius leaving the store. They continued walking until they reached the outskirts of the alley, and then Sirius apparated them home.

By dinner time, Harry's patience with his godfather had worn thin. He needed to know what he was getting into, and the explanations he had received to this point had been nothing short of useless. Putting down his fork, he again fixed Sirius with a hard gaze. "Alright. I've been patient all day, and you haven't spilled yet. I would really like to know what all of this is about."

Sirius sighed with resignation and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay. I'll tell you. The Ministry Yule Ball is an annual event held with the intention of letting all the influential families of the wizarding community intermingle with one other. It was born of for the purpose of cooperation; it was kept around for the sake of tradition and politicking. Harry, the reason I want you to be able to make a good first impression is that there are going to be a good number of important people there. My presence is more than likely going to be a hot topic; yours even more so. It won't do for you to not have any idea how to act, especially considering who you."

Harry sat quietly for a minute before he spoke. "So does that mean there are things that I need to know that you haven't taught me yet?" Sirius nodded.

"It's nothing extensive, just a few basic things. There will be more eventually, but we'll have to wait on that until you're a tad older. Right now, we're just going to focus on general greetings and mannerisms. Come on, then, we'd best get started." He stood from the table and led Harry to the drawing room to begin his lessons.

 **24** **th** **December, 1985 – Morning of the Ball**

Harry was awakened by a loud rapping on his door. He then heard Sirius call from other side: "Pup! Breakfast is ready! Quick now!" Harry groaned as he sat up. A glance at his clock showed that it was only half past five! Why on earth did he need to be up so early if the ball wasn't until the evening? Muttering under his breath, Harry made his way downstairs and sat down to eat. Sirius was already there, and he was glancing through a stack of papers that sat next to his plate. He looked at his godson and smirked.

"Why so glum, pup?" Harry just glared at him as he took a bit of the toast on the plate.

"Why? You wake me up at 5:30 in the morning with no warning; no reasons. The ball isn't until 6 this evening! You know I'm not a morning person!" Harry continued to mutter about injustices as he ate. The fact that the small smile on Sirius' face didn't seem to go away made it worse.

"I just wanted to make sure you were fully prepared for the evening to come is all." At the murderous glare he got he threw up his hands in mock-defense. "Hey! You don't need to rage, now. I'm just trying to make sure everything goes well today. I have a couple more things I need to do before the ball this evening, do you think you can manage to get ready okay?" Harry nodded stiffly, muttering about sleep being better preparation as he finished his food. When the elves popped in to clear the plates, Harry made towards the stairs.

"Oi! Don't you go back to sleep now! I'd hate to have to use a more…calculated tactic to get you up the second time around!" Sirius called out. Harry paled momentarily before racing up the stairs. Sirius waited until he heard running water to turn back to the papers in front of him. _It looks like the majority of the investments are holding up just fine,_ he thought to himself. After James and Lily's deaths, he'd had no idea how well he was going to be able to handle the overwhelming amount of stock the Potter's had built up, but things seemed to be going smoother than he thought. He trekked up the stairs to the study to safely stow the papers away.

Making his way to his room, he checked again to make sure that his robes were in order, crests and all. He thumbed the lord's ring on the desk distastefully, the only constant reminder of a past and legacy he wished he could forget. Resigning to the role he had to play later, he slipped the ring on. He had to do this. Things couldn't afford to go wrong today. He turned out of the room and made his way downstairs, ignoring the heavy feeling in his chest.

Seating himself on the couch, he forced himself to breathe. He would manage today. He had taught Harry everything he needed to know to this point, so he was sure the lad would be fine. He chuckled to himself as he thought about the possibility that Harry may even have an easier night ahead of him than Sirius did.

After a fairly late, and light, lunch, Sirius set about his business and had Harry go and get ready. It was a good twenty minutes later that Harry stood in front of his mirror to make sure that everything was finally in order. He had to admit, he rather liked how he looked in the robes. It certainly wasn't enough to make him want to wear them every day, but he was sure that he would be able to make the impression that he and Sirius were going for.

At a quarter to six, Harry heard knocking on his door again. "You ready in there, Pup?"

"Yeah, I'll be downstairs in a moment!" Harry took one last look in the mirror and went downstairs. His godfather looked at him approvingly.

"Very good, Harry, very good. I think we'll do just fine tonight, don't you?" Harry nodded. "Okay, then. We best be going. It's going to take a bit of a roundabout way to get to the Ministry, so bear with me, yeah?" Harry nodded again and swallowed hard. He was nervous, but he was going to do his best to make sure that he didn't disappoint.


	3. The One Where Harry Goes to the Ball

_**AN: I'm back with another installment of A Marauder's Choice! Remember to read and review! Also, if you want more or less of characters, let me know!**_

 _ **Chapter 3: A Marauder's Choice – Operation: Harry's Yule**_

 **24th December, 1985 - Ministry Yule Ball**

Sirius Black stepped from the Floo into the Ministry Atrium, godson in tow, and laughed as Harry fell right on his backside. Harry wasn't good at any sort of magical transport, but for a six-year-old, he wasn't as bad as Cygnus Greengrass' little girl. Sirius quickly waved his wand and Harry was dusted off. Not long after their entrance, they were greeted by the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

"Ah! Lord Black, I'm sorry for your mother's passing. She could fight with the best of them." Said the Minister, extending his hand for a shake.

"She was a cow, Minister. And a right rotter, she doesn't deserve any sorrow." Sirius said as he took the hand that was extended and shook it almost lazily.

The Minister was taken aback by Sirius' lack of grief for his mother, but his attention was averted by the small figure holding the Lord's hand and smiling around at the ball, "This must be the little Lord Potter! It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, your godfather speaks very highly of your broom skills."

"Hello, Minister, it's a pleasure to meet you!" The little Lord spoke as he let go of his Godfather's hand and bowed slowly. Harry quickly extended his hand to the Minister, who took it and shook hurriedly.

The Minister apologized for leaving, as he was dragged away to meet several of the older Lords and Ladies who had just entered the party. As he left, Sirius caught the eye of three Lords and their wives who were conversing. One of the Lords seemed to motion to show the Lord Black had arrived, so they made their way to Harry and Sirius.

"Ah, Lord Black and the young Lord Potter! I haven't seen you in ages!" said the larger man. Sirius' attention was drawn to a small, pretty blonde girl hiding behind his leg. Noticing his gaze, the man said, "Ah, you know my daughter, Daphne Greengrass?"

"Hello, sweetheart! How's the Greengrass residence? You keeping Lord Greengrass in line?" Sirius asked the small girl hanging on the Lord's pants.

The little girl blushed profusely and quickly slid behind her father's leg even more than she already was.

"Daphne, why don't you go mingle with Harry and the rest of the kids? I'm sure Harry wouldn't mind being your escort!" Cygnus said as he bent down to his daughter and hugged her. He motioned for Harry to come over and Daphne grabbed his hand and ran off with Harry in tow.

As the little ones ran off, Sirius looked to the four other people surrounding Lord Greengrass. Annabelle Greengrass stood by her husband's side, "Lord Greengrass, are you going to introduce me to your _friends?_ "

"My apologies, Sirius. This is Lord Alexander LeStrange and his wife, Isabelle." He motioned to his right and the Lord inclined his head in a sign of acknowledgement. He was a taller man, standing about 6' 1" with an average build. He had locks of sandy blonde hair that extended to his shoulders, much like Sirius' own. His deep brown eyes stared thoughtfully into Sirius soul, but he maintained a polite smile. The woman standing at his side was incredibly beautiful, with golden blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She almost seemed perfect to Sirius, and he was immediately attracted to her. He would be drooling, but that is highly inappropriate at such a formal event.

"Lord Black, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Lord Greengrass has spoken highly of your exploits during the war." Lord LeStrange extended his hand and shook the surprised Lord Black's hand who had just ripped his eyes off the woman, "Of course, my wife Isabelle."

"Et iz a pleasuore to meet you, Lord Black", the Lady said in a heavily accented English, "I apologize for my English, I am from France." She curtsied and extended her hand, which Sirius took and kissed.

"Lord LeStrange is the youngest brother to the infamous Death Eaters, Rodolphus and Rabastian. He was emissary to the French Ministry of Magic during the end of the war, so he was not in country when his brothers joined the Dark Lord." Cygnus said as Lord LeStrange politely smiled. "To my left is Lord Timothy Nott, younger brother to William Nott, the 'imperiused' Death Eater who was stripped of his inheritance when he was sent to Azkaban."

"Good evening, Lord Black." Timothy smiled and inclined his head.

As they spoke, a familiar white-haired family made their way over to the small group of powerful lords.

"Good evening, my Lords," the regal looking Lord said as he sized up the group.

"Lord Malfoy," Alexander said as he eyed the former Death Eater. He then turned back to the other Lords, "Isabelle and I are going to check on the children. Lord Black, may I have a word?"

Sirius nodded in acceptance and bowed to the other Lords as a goodbye before following Lord LeStrange into a side corridor. He rounded the corner and was met with a giant bear hug from the other Lord. Sirius quickly returned the hug as Alexander pulled away with both hands still on Sirius' shoulders. "Sirius! How are you, old friend? I haven't seen you in ages! Where have you been? Are you and little Harry safe? Why haven't you tried contacting me? I could have put you up for a while!"

"Alexander! One question at a time please!" Sirius said as he stared at the Lord standing before him.

 _ **Flashback**_

" _James, Sirius, Alexander! Give it back! It's mine!" screamed a 3_ _rd_ _year Severus Snape as he chased them past the gardens of Hogwarts._

" _Gotta catch us first Snape!" Sirius said as he held up the notebook and began reading as James and Alexander held Snape back from grabbing at the book._

" _I saw Lily talking to the LeStrange Blood-traitor this morning, how could she do something like that to me? She knows I don't like them!" Sirius read out loud as he laughed, "Hey Talons! Looks like Snivillus doesn't like you talking to Evans! He even called you a blood-traitor!"_

" _Like I haven't heard that one before Snivillus, I get called that all the time by you and your Snakes!" The young Gryffindor spat at the struggling Slytherin before him, "I've been called much worse by my older brothers."_

 _As Sirius looked back at the page to start reading again, he noticed a crowd began forming around them. He smiled an almost evil smirk before skipping a bit. He saw Lily Evans attempting to make her way to the front of the crowd to help her Snapely friend._

 _Sirius began reading at a different part of the page. "Oh, my sweet Lily. Why are you so dense that you can't see that I want to be something more than friends with you? Your hair is as beautiful as…" Sirius faked a gag as Lily stared at Snape then yelled._

" _Let Severus go! He didn't do anything to you!"_

" _Shut it Mudblood, I didn't ask for your help!" Severus screamed as he struggled to break free from James and Alexander's grasp. The whole crowd gasped as Severus spoke. Lily burst into tears._

 _Sirius closed the diary before walking up to Snape and shoving it into his chest, "Too far." Alexander and James let the snake go before running after Lily who had run down the hall to Gryffindor Tower._

 _ **End Flashback**_

"Where'd you go, Padfoot? You just claimed the Lordship of the House of Black and regency of the House of Potter then disappeared? We thought you were dead…" Lord LeStrange said as he looked at his friend from Hogwarts.

"Dumbledore was trying to take Harry away, Talons. He tried to put him with Lily's sister and her beast of a husband. Those disgusting muggles… I had to protect Harry." Sirius said as he looked back towards the party, almost like he was looking at Harry.

"Sirius, I don't blame you. Those days at the end of the war were hectic. I'm lucky my father was killed and my brothers were thrown in Azkaban. If not, I'd probably be dead." He looked thoughtfully back at the ball as the crowd parted enough to see his wife pickup their youngest daughter and start bouncing her on her side. Isabelle looked his way and saw him watching her and smiled softly before turning her attention back to their baby.

Sirius followed his gaze and spoke, "She's very beautiful Alex. I bet you're a great Dad."

"If only James and Lily could see us now…" Alexander smiled and wiped a tear from his eye, "It's been one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine days, Padfoot. A thousand, eight hundred and seventy-nine days of not being called a 'massive prat' by James or a 'sweetheart' by Lily. I miss them. You all were my only family. Then they died, you disappeared, Peter was convicted as a traitor, and Lupin fell into a deep depression. I was alone…"

"I'm sorry, Alex. I should have sent you an owl or something. Telling you I was okay." Sirius tried to console his friend but was cut off.

"No. It's okay. You had to protect Harry. I would have done the same. I've made some friends since then, Sirius. Cygnus and Timothy are good men. Nothing like their fathers. My firstborn, James, is good friends with Daphne Greengrass and Sebastian Nott. Draco Malfoy also comes over to the Manor sometimes. They are all the same age as Harry." Alexander said.

"Your son is named James?" Sirius choked out looking at his friend.

"James Arthur LeStrange, he's a good kid. Takes too much after his father though. He'll be a Slytherin. Spends too much time with those snakes." Alexander chuckled, "I bet Harry will be one too if you let him come play with James now that you're going to be out in the open again."

Sirius laughed as he rubbed away the tears he had shed, "I bet. He's a good kid, but cunning as a snake. He can get out of anything."

"Sirius," Alexander said as he looked right at his friend and adopted a more formal tone, "Lord Greengrass, Lord Nott, and Lord LeStrange wish to extend a hand in alliance to the Lord of the House of Black. We want to have you over to the Greengrass Manor on New Years if you accept. We can talk about adding the House of Potter to the alliance later."

Sirius was shocked by his old friend's move and so soon too, "Lord LeStrange, I am prepared to accept this alliance with those who you have stated. Harry and I will join you on New Years."

* * *

Harry was being dragged through the crowd by this golden blonde, blue eyed girl whom he barely knew. Her little hand was clasped hard onto his own, giving him no real option other than to follow her. "Keep up Harry! I'm sure my friends want to meet you!" Daphne yelled back as she sped up into a slight jog and made her way through the crowd.

They finally reached the edge of the crowd and found a small group of kids standing around the cake and food, eating much of it. "Hey guys! Look who I found! It's Harry Potter!"

They all stopped their conversations and stared at the raven-haired boy still holding Daphne's hand. Daphne quickly let go of his hand and blushed before moving to stand next to a sandy blonde haired boy, the same age Harry. He was the first of the group of friends to approach.

"LeStrange, James LeStrange." He bowed and looked thoughtfully at Harry, "My dad says you defeated You-Know-Who." Harry quietly nodded. "You want to meet my friends?"

Harry nodded again, "I don't have many friends my age. Padfoot says that I needed to be safe."

"That's okay, I'll introduce you!" James said as he pulled Harry to the group. Harry looked at the four other kids who were talking before he had arrived, "Okay, you've already met Daphne Greengrass. She's really nice once she gets past her shyness." The blonde blushed and lowered her head. James leaned into Harry's ear, "Looks like she already has a crush on you." Harry blushed and looked at James with obvious embarrassment. Harry didn't have much experience with girls, let alone anyone other than Padfoot for that matter. Not saying that he didn't know how to conduct himself like a pureblood, he was just a bit shy.

James continued the introductions pointing at a brown haired boy with extremely short hair, "This is Sebastian Nott. He doesn't talk much. Really smart though." Sebastian managed to wave at the newcomer before motioning for him to continue, "You've met me, I'm James LeStrange. You can call me James. And this is Draco Malfoy." He motioned towards the almost white-haired kid who looked kind of smug.

"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. It's nice to meet you Harry." The boy extended his hand to Harry, who took it and shook it readily, "Welcome to our friend group. All of our families are friends, so you can come see us all the time!"

"I would love that!" Harry said. As he looked around at the other groups of kids, who all seemed to be congregated by the food tables, he spotted one group which seemed to have several redheads inside.

"You don't want to associate with those types of people Harry; mudbloods and blood-traitors. They aren't proper purebloods like us."

"Draco, shut up. Harry is a half-blood like me." James said as he eyed the white-haired boy, obviously slightly annoyed.

"Hey, calm down LeStrange. Geez. I didn't even say anything about half-bloods." Draco huffed to himself.

James looked at Harry and whispered into his ear, "My mom is a Veela. We don't really talk about it. She hasn't ever transformed since she moved to England. Dad doesn't really say much about it, but I think my little sister, Paige, is a Veela too." Harry nodded in acceptance and James continued, "Your mom was a mudblood, or a muggleborn, as they are supposed to be called. Don't take offence to Draco, he can't really help it."

"That's okay, James. He seems to be just a prat." Said Harry as he chuckled.

"Got that right, Harry." James said as he laughed a bit too.

* * *

The evening continued as the Lords and Ladies talked at length about politics, their lives, and their children as their children talked as well. The children's conversations were much more animated than their parents, focusing on what they thought they were getting for Christmas the next day. James thought he would be getting a better children's broom, although he had begged his dad for a professional style one. Not like that had made a difference to his mom, she had told her husband that she would burn him if he bought James a professional broom. Sebastian had just shrugged his shoulders when asked and went back to reading his book. Daphne said she was hoping for flying carpet like in that muggle movie, but would settle for some candy and jewelry. Draco was hoping for the same thing as James, a new broom. But he was also sure that his dad wouldn't get him a professional one either. Harry was hoping for a pet owl or a snake, but was really okay with anything.

As it happened, Chief Wizard Albus Dumbledore was in attendance that night, as was his duty, and had noticed Lord Black and Harry meeting with the darker elements of the Wizengamot. _I knew I should have looked harder!_

"Sirius, my boy! I've been looking for you! Where did you take Harry?" Albus said, his signature twinkle in his eye.

"It's Lord Black, Chief Wizard. And where Harry has been is not your business. I've been raising him to be a good man and he is safe, that should be enough for you." Sirius said in an annoyed voice, obviously not happy at Dumbledore's presence. Since that night, Sirius had hardened his heart towards the old man. He was absolutely positive it had been all Dumbledore's fault that James and Lily were dead, whether he could prove it or not.

"You know I was just trying to do what's best for Harry. He would have been safer at the Dursley's, it had very powerful wards." Albus said in a grandfatherly tone.

"I would say where me and Harry are staying is just as safe, Chief Wizard. You couldn't find him, so how could the Death Eaters?" Sirius responded in a questioning manner raising both his eyebrows in a mocking manner.

"It matters little now; those wards fell years ago. No need arguing about that now!" Dumbledore said as he looked around for Harry, "Where is Harry?"

"Oh? Are you going to steal him away yourself this time? Rather than send your lap dog Hagrid to do it for you?" Sirius said scornfully, which had garnered the attention of the other Lords who had been previously speaking with Lord Black.

"Sirius, my boy… No need to be hostile, I was merely concerned that he was allowed to walk around without supervision."

"Mind your own business. Harry is right over there, next to the other children." Sirius pointed to the small group who were sitting cross-legged in a corner of the atrium, "As you can see, he is surrounded by other children."

Taking notice of Harry being with the children of the darker elements of the Wizengamot, Albus responded, "Are you sure that Harry should associate with _those_ children, Sirius? I'm sure the Wealsey's would be quite willing to befriend Harry."

"That will not be necessary. I trust those children's parents implicitly and Harry is free to make his own choices." Sirius responded to the Headmaster's obvious meddling, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must speak with my cousin." He nodded to the old man before walking around and proceeding towards the elder Malfoy and the blonde standing next to him.

"Narcissa." Sirius said as he walked up behind Lady Malfoy.

She turned around and was surprised to see her cousin, "Sirius?"

"In the flesh. It's Lord Black now though. So watch out!" he waved his hands and made a funny face before beckoning the Lady Malfoy in for a hug, "It's been too long, Cissy."

Lord Malfoy looked behind him to see the reunion occurring and shot a smug smile across his face before turning back to the other Lords.

Narcissa asked, "Where have you been? You disappeared after the Dark Lord's defeat. There was a full scale search for you and Harry. We knew you were alive because the Lordship was claimed but…" she trailed as she sniffed back tears.

"Oh, Cissy, I'm sorry I didn't write. I was so scared. James and Lily were dead and Peter was a traitor. Alexander was out of the country so I didn't trust anyone." Sirius said.

"Alexander? LeStrange? You were friends?" Narcissa asked as she pulled away from the hug and Sirius nodded, "That explains a lot." Sirius sent her a look prompted her to explain, "Lord LeStrange was the biggest supporter of the search effort behind Dumbledore. Everyone was surprised that a Lord who had two brothers in Azkaban for serving the Dark Lord would be so concerned about the Boy-Who-Lived and his Godfather."

"I better thank him for that." Sirius said chuckling at his friend's loyalty.

"Have you met Draco? He's a bit spoiled but I'm working on it." Narcissa smiled.

"Harry has. He met your son and his friends."

"They're good kids. They are best friends, although I wonder if Daphne feels a wee bit awkward being the only girl in that group. I wonder if I should invite the Davis' to have their girl join the group." She thought out loud as Sirius sighed.

"Narcissa, I'm glad I got to finally see you again. How's Lucius treating you?" Sirius asked, as he knew she wasn't exactly excited about marrying the Malfoy heir some odd years ago. It had been one of those old fashioned arranged marriages. Narcissa had tried to get her father to break the marriage contract, but he never had so she was forced to marry the Malfoy heir.

"He's great Sirius. He has changed a lot since You-Know-Who's defeat. Not as angry and shortsighted. I love him." She responded. "So don't annul the marriage."

"Yes, mother." Sirius said as he chuckled, "I'm happy for you, Cissy. Let me know if you can find a girl for me?"

Narcissa laughed as she spoke, "I'll look into it. I've got to get back to my husband. I hope to see you around the Manor again, okay?" she kissed him on the check and returned to her husband.

As the night neared the end, the Minister went to the stage to give his annual Christmas Eve speech before the atrium cleared out for Christmas Day.

"Tonight, we celebrate Yule and everything that comes with it. I am happy that everyone came tonight, as it is always a great thing to see Ministry able to take a day off to really appreciate everything we have been blessed with…"

The minister droned on for what seemed like an eternity to the kids, but was really only about five minutes. It was the regular drivel that Cornelius Fudge always said. He wasn't a well-liked Minister but he got the job done, even if that involved a mountain of bribes from Lucius and the rest of the darker Lords.

The children had already made their way back to their parent's sides and were getting ready to leave. They exchanged their goodbyes to each other, and all of Harry's new friends promised they'd write him and see if he would want to come over. As Sirius and Harry were making their way back to the innumerable Floos to take them home, Sirius' arm was caught by Lord Lestrange who whispered into his ear.

" _Remember… New Year's… alliance… Isabelle… crushed…"_ Harry only caught bits of it from his position, half the height of Sirius. Lord LeStrange then reached down and looked at Harry, "You have your mother's eyes, Harry." The Lord wrapped Harry up in a hug before messing up his hair. The Lord then rushed to meet his wife and kids. Harry had stiffened when he was hugged by the strange Lord who it had seemed like he had just met. He knew that he was the father of his new friend, James, but beyond that…

Harry and Sirius threw the floo powder into the floo and whispered Potter Manor. They were soon whisked away into the front room.

 **24** **th** **December 1985 – Potter Manor**

Sirius and Harry soon found themselves in the front room of Potter Manor, with Harry once again falling onto his bottom. He quickly stood up as Sirius laughed at him. "Shut it. I bet you fell a lot too." Harry said indignantly.

"I wasn't ever as bad as you are." Sirius laughed again, "Harry, you have to slightly brace yourself before you step in then you'll be fine when you get to the other side."

"You say that, but I still suck at it." Harry said as he pouted, "What did you get me for Yule?"

"Ah, can't tell you." Sirius said as he held a finger up to his lips, "It wouldn't be a surprise then would it?"

"I guess. Padfoot, how do you know Lord LeStrange? He gave me a hug when we were leaving…" asked Harry as he made his way over to the couch to lay down. It was already almost midnight and Harry never slept on Yule Eve anyway, so why go to bed?

Sirius smiled down at the little boy as he pulled up a chair to sit across from him, "You want to hear some stories about your parents and me?" Harry nodded furiously, "Alright, I'll start with the sorting of me and your dad…"

 _ **Flashback**_

" _Black, Sirius." bellowed Professor McGonagall._

 _Sirius slowly made his way to the little chair in front of the Great Hall. It was packed with students and as one of the first first-years to be sorted, it was all really frightening. He glanced at his new friend, James Potter, whom he had met on the train with Remus Lupin and a rat looking fellow named Peter Pettigrew. He really wanted to be his friend but he was from a light family. Sirius would probably be sorted into Slytherin, just like the rest of his family. He could see Narcissa Black already making room next to her for him to sit…_

 _As the hat was placed onto his head, his heart was racing. "Ah, another Black. I know exactly where to put you." The hat said into his mind._

" _Please no. I don't wanna go to Slytherin…" Sirius meekly thought._

" _What? Blacks have gone to Slytherin for generations… Ahhhh. I see. You don't like your family. Where to put you then? You are smart, but you wouldn't really fit into Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff would be a good fit, but I don't think you would like that. That leaves only one choice, GRYFFINDOR!" The last word was bellowed throughout the hall. The hall remained deathly silent. Then one Gryffindor stood and started clapping. The rest of the house soon followed, with Slytherin table almost looking as if you just killed a hundred kittens in front of them._

 _Sirius got up and walked over towards the Gryffindor table. He sat down at the very front, away from everybody else._

 _The sorting continued until another major name in the wizarding world was called…_

" _LeStrange, Alexander."_

 _The sandy blonde haired boy walked up to the chair and plopped down, a smug smile on his face. He already knew what house he was going to be sorted into. However, when the hat once again yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!", he looked absolutely shocked. He shot a glance at his brothers who were sitting at the Slytherin table and they glared right into his soul. He got up and grumbled his way over to the Lions table before plopping down right next to Sirius. He began banging his head against the table…._

 _The rest of the sorting ceremony was fairly uneventful, with Cygnus Greengrass and Timothy Nott being sorted into Slytherin and Remus Lupin, Lily Evans, and Peter Pettigrew being sorted into Gryffindor. Sirius really didn't care about anybody else's sorting so he really didn't know were any of the other kids went._

 _Lily sat next to the now red faced LeStrange boy, with James sitting next to Sirius and Remus, while Peter sat across from them._

" _I'm so dead. I should just kill myself right now. My parents are gonna murder me." Muttered Alexander as he just stared at his plate, not eating a thing._

" _Hey, welcome to the club. I'm Sirius Black." Sirius said to the boy as he extended his hand._

" _Alexander LeStrange. Looks like we are in the same boat. Both sorted into the house dreaded by our parents and siblings. At least I'm not a Hufflepuff. They would disown me if I was a 'Puff." He shook the boy's extended hand…_

 _ **End Flashback**_

"So, Lord LeStrange was sorted into Gryffindor when his parents had always wanted him to be a Slytherin? Wasn't that just like you?" asked Harry, unsure of the reason this story applied to his parents.

"Yes, but he didn't ask to be not in Slytherin. I guess the hat just thought he had some good Gryffindor qualities. I just didn't want to be in Slytherin because my family had always been in Slytherin, and I was a rebel." Sirius laughed, "Alexander was deeply depressed for a couple days after the sorting. It took us three days of pushing to him for him to actually talk to us. After that, we started to become friends. We soon were running around the castle and being eleven year olds."

"I want to show you something Harry…" Sirius said as he motioned Harry to follow, "I was going to give you this on your eleventh birthday so you could take it to school, but I think this would explain some stuff." He reached into one of the desk draws in the study and pulled out a folded piece of parchment.

"I solemnly swear I am up to not good." Sirius said as he pressed his wand into the parchment. The parchment suddenly began to form words. Harry looked incredulously at the paper before he read, _Messrs, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Talons are proud to present the Marauders Map._

"That's so cool! What's it do?" said Harry as he gently took the parchment from Sirius and examined it, flipping it over then back to the front.

"Well, when you go to Hogwarts, it will show the location of everyone in the castle. We made five of them. This one is mine, with your dad's being in the Potter Vault. I think Moony still has his, but Wormtail got his confiscated in seventh year and Moony wouldn't make him another one. Talons is Lord LeStrange, and I would bet that when you and James go to Hogwarts, you both will have one." Sirius said as he watched Harry look over the device.

"So you and Lord LeStrange were friends with my dad?" Harry asked, looking up at Padfoot. His emerald green eyes stared right into Sirius' own.

"Yup, we had so much fun. Your mom, Lily, joined our little group in 4th year. She did most of the research and charms work for our little maps. She didn't want to be named though, as her nickname was Lily Flower and that's kinda obvious." Sirius laughed, "Harry, did I tell you that you have your mother's eyes?"

"Yes, Padfoot." Harry said as he rolled his eyes, "You and Lord LeStrange told me today."

"Well, he is right…" Sirius smiled, "Alright, off to bed. We have to get up in a few hours for Yule and PRESENTS!" Sirius screamed the last part like a little kid and picked up Harry. The little boy tried to get away, but Sirius had a death grip on him and soon Harry found himself being lifted up the stairs… Upside down. Harry giggled loudly and Sirius threw him onto his bed and quickly ran out the room, locking the door behind him. "SANTA IS COMING! STAY IN YOUR ROOM!"

 **25** **th** **December 1985 – Potter Manor**

Harry had laid in his bed for the past six hours staring at the ceiling in anticipation of Yule and his presents. His ceiling was a nice shade of white with little square indentions. He lived in a manor, so that wasn't really surprising. There was this little nick in one of them, which made Harry slightly curious to how that happened…

Just as he had finished musing about the weird indentation, his door to his room burst open with Sirius and the Potter Elves standing in the doorway. "Harry! PRESENTS!" Sirius screamed and ran into the room, "GET UP YOU LAZY BUM! LET'S GO!"

Harry rolled off the bed, still in his pajamas. "Padfoot, you do this every Yule…"

"That's because you never beat me getting up!" Sirius smiled triumphantly, not knowing Harry didn't sleep. Harry wasn't going to correct him though, if he told him, Sirius would make him take a sleeping potion before Yule then. "The presents are under the tree and the elves have started the food! We are go for Operation: Harry's Yule. Go! Go! Go!"

Harry rolled his eyes at the antics on his Padfoot and the Potter elves, who were now lined up on both sides of the door saluting while snickering. Harry slowly walked out of his room, trying to annoy Sirius even further. As he passed through the elven guard, he thanked them for everything they do and took out a small ornate box. As he opened it, it was revealed to be little medals. Each one had the small number 4 on it. "Thanks for four great Yules guys." He pinned the medals next to the other three medals and the elves almost died thanking him and dumping praise on him. It was always cute to see them fawn over their young Lord. They truly adored him.

He made his way downstairs and was astounded by the amount of presents under the tree. It seemed, to his six-year-old mind like there had to be at least fifty! There were really only twenty, although Sirius always put in a few presents that were just boxes filled with rocks. Sirius found it absolutely hilarious when Harry ripped open a present expecting something big, only finding rocks. It was cruel, but Harry would always get him back…

Harry's eyes were immediately drawn to the broom shaped present leaning against the fireplace mantle. It was obviously a learner broom, but his current was getting a bit small to support his weight. "Okay, Harry! You can start unwrapping your presents!"

"Hey wait! I got him presents too!" Remus called as he flooed straight into the drawing room, overcompensating for the turn and falling on his face. Harry smiled a huge grin as the man wiped the soot off his clothes from the fireplace, "What up! It's your boy, skinny Remus!"

Harry and Sirius just looked at him confused, like 'what are you talking about?' Remus just smiled and dropped the bag of presents in front of the tree. "I brought all sorts of cool stuff Harry! Open em up!"

Harry quickly began tearing through the presents. By the end he had gotten a lot of cool stuff, a new broom, and a muggle bicycle. When he reached the back of the tree, he found a small box. It wasn't addressed to him, but instead it was addressed to Sirius…

"Hey Padfoot, you have a present under here." Harry swiftly grabbed the box and handed it to Sirius, who slowly ripped off the paper after running his wand over it, checking for curses. When all the paper was removed, he found an ornate looking box with a crest of the House of Black expertly etched into the top. He lifted the top off of the box to find a small note and a brand new, expensive, dragonhide Auror wand holster.

He opened the note and read it: _Sirius, I heard you were back from the dead. You're gonna need this then. Love, AB._ He set the note and examined the holster before lifting out it out of the case. He placed it on his arm over the outline of a long faded tattoo and placed his wand into it. It suddenly disappeared from view. _Invisibility? That's handy…_ Sirius thought as he flicked his wrist and the wand shot into his hand, _but who the bloody wank is AB?_

"Harry, do you know anybody with the initials AB?" Sirius asked, not really expecting any sort of helpful response.

"Uh. I only know you and like five other people, Padfoot." Harry responded, not even looking up from his brand new wizard chess board. It was a very cool chess set, since it had pieces that were transfigured to look like characters from a muggle movie called "Star Wars". However, as Harry sat there, he racked his brain looking for anybody he knew with those initials. Daphne Greengrass – DG, James LeStrange – JL, Sebastian Nott – SN, Draco Malfoy – DM… "Nope, you're on your own"

"I swear I've seen these initials before, but, for the life of me, I can't remember!" Sirius was now a bit annoyed that he couldn't remember.

"Maybe you were obliviated." Harry retorted, still not looking at Padfoot.

"That has to be it." Sirius said as he began to look through his brain using his occulmency training. It took several minutes, but he was still drawing a blank. None of his memories had been tampered with, "Everything is there, but why the hell can't I remember? It's obviously someone I was friendly with."

"Or maybe they wanna fight you." Harry said as he stood up from the chess set, "Come on, it's time for lunch."

Sirius stood up, still thinking about this interesting gift and its implications. Who could this AB be and why did they give him an expensive wand holster?


	4. The One Where Harry Gets Some Allies

_**AN: Here is the next chapter of my story! Please enjoy and R &R. Also, there are some chapters mentioned/introduced in this chapter that won't come back until later. I just wanted to introduce them.**_

 _ **Chapter 4: A Marauder's Choice – Operation: Alliances for the Win**_

 **1** **st** **January, 1986 – Greengrass Manor**

It was late morning when Sirius and Harry flooed over to the Greengrass Manor. Though it was a lot like Potter Manor, it was a bit darker than Sirius would have liked. He was pleased with the fact that it still felt homey. The Floo was located in the greeting room, much like Potter Manor's. However, unlike Potter Manor, there was a blonde girl standing just inside the room, ready to pounce on whoever came in.

"HARRY!" Daphne screamed as she rushed him when he exited the fireplace, wrapping him into a big hug. "How was your New Years?"

"It was okay, Daphne! Me and Padfoot stayed up until midnight and shot off some fireworks!" Harry said as he hugged the little girl back. "What did you do?"

"Same thing, but James and Draco came over with Tracey Davis. Lady Malfoy says that I need the company of a girl to talk about girl things with. I'm not sure what she means, because I like James and Draco just fine." Daphne shrugged and grabbed Harry's hand, pulling him from Sirius and into the parlor where the kids were playing.

"What am I? An invisibility cloak?" Sirius said under his breath as his godson was pulled away by the little Greengrass. It was a cute sight to say the least, and Sirius was glad Harry now had friends that weren't his guardian or elves.

"Is that Sirius Black I hear muttering under his breath?" Cygnus Greengrass said as he rounded the corner from the formal living room, coming face to face with him. "Ah, the Most Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass bids you welcome to our Manor, Lord Black. I take it you received the message from Alexander?"

"Indeed I did, Lord Greengrass. I understand that the others are here as well?" Sirius asked as he shook the hand of Cygnus.

"Yes, they are just in the formal living room. Shall we?" Sirius nodded as Cygnus led them back the way he had come. As they entered, Sirius recognized all in the room. Annabelle Greengrass was her usual radiant self, sitting on the love seat where Cygnus had obviously just been sitting. Lord LeStrange was in one of the larger single chairs with Lady LeStrange sitting comfortably on his lap. Timothy Nott was conversing with another figure, much to Sirius' surprise. He didn't expect Lord Lucius Malfoy to be there as well. However, as Sirius entered the formal living room, the Floo flared again, spitting out another older Lord. Sirius didn't recognize him from his war days or even before…

"Ah! Lord Black! I'm glad you have arrived; we have much to discuss!" Lord Malfoy said as he stood up to shake the newly arrived Lord's hand.

"I guess we do, Lord Malfoy. May I ask who we have here beyond who I already know?" Sirius said as Isabelle LeStrange slid off the lap of her husband and quietly exited the room with Annabelle in tow. She mentioned something about checking on the children, but Sirius knew that she just wanted to leave.

"Ah, may I introduce you to Lord Moon." The gray haired Lord cocked and bowed his head in greeting before Lord Malfoy continued, "He is an old friend of Alexander's. He was sent to Germany as an emissary before and during the war."

"It is a pleasure to meet you again, Lord Black. I have heard much from Lord LeStrange of your exploits during the war. Shame I wasn't able to partake…" He almost sneered, which kind of surprised Sirius, "Ah, I apologize. This is my granddaughter, Lilith Moon. *he paused to look at his granddaughter* Why don't you run along and find the other children, yes?"

"Okay Grandpa!", the six-year-old responded before scampering off to find the others…

"Let's get this business over with gentlemen, I have other things to do beyond pointless chatter." Lord Moon said as he refocused his attention to the assembled Lords.

"Still getting pulled around by Daphne, Harry?" James asked as Daphne and Harry entered the parlor hand in hand. Daphne quickly let go of his hand once again and begun blushing, _Why does she keep doing that?_ Harry thought as he responded to James, "It seems I just can't get away… How was everyone's Yule and New Years?"

"Dad got me a new broom, but it was a trainers so whatever. Other than that, I didn't get much else. My dad likes to buy us stuff during the year, so I don't get much for Yule." James said as he motioned for Harry to take a seat in one of the parlor's seats, "We shot off fireworks for New Years! It was a lot of fun!"

As they spoke, there was a high pitched scream and a head of golden blonde hair shot into the parlor with a house elf in hot pursuit. The little child with golden blonde hair slammed right into James with a thud and wrapped him up with a tight hug, "You can't tag me, Molly! I'm on base!"

"But Miss 'Tori said that te knight iz beings the base?" Molly said, obviously confused by the little girl's antics.

"I am on base! James is the knight!" Astoria said, holding on tighter to James than before.

As she said that, Isabelle and Annabelle both walked into the parlor, "Is everything alright? We heard a scream."

Draco piped up and said, "Yeah, everything is okay. Astoria was playing tag with Molly and said James was base."

"Tori, you can't use James as base. Go use the front door or something." Lady Greengrass said as she shook her head in amusement.

"But mom! It's not fair! Molly knows where I am in the house and can just pop there." She adopted the angriest face she could after releasing James who just sat down, surprised. When she released, Molly quickly lunged at her and tagged her saying, "Miss Tori was not beings on base. Yous is beings it." The elf then stuck her tongue out and popped away.

"This is all your fault mom! Now I'll never get Molly…" It looked like she was about to cry before Annabelle said, "Molly!"

The house elf once again popped into the parlor, thinking the game was over as her mistress had called. "I is beings here, Mistress Greenygrass."

Astoria lunged like Molly had a second ago and the elf was again tagged, "Oh, Mistress Greenygrass beings helping the little Tori. Yous is a good mommy, even though yous bes cheating and all."

"Molly, no popping when you are playing tag with Tori, that isn't fair." Annabelle said. The elf just nodded and began chasing the littlest Greengrass once again. Astoria was only one year younger than Daphne, but had just the same amount of energy. As they ran from the parlor, the slightly older kids began talking again; sharing their experiences over the holidays and whatever else that had happened. For once, Sebastian had actually talked about New Years and how his dad had taken him to France.

As Sebastian was finishing his story, a short, white-haired girl with an almost dreamy expression walked into the room. All the conversations abruptly stopped as Harry and the others looked at this new arrival. "Hello, my name is Lilith Moon. You can call me Lily though. Daddy says that a war heroine had my name so he likes to call me it."

Harry was the first to come out of their stupor, "My mom's name was Lily. Her nickname was Lily Flower… It's nice to meet you, I'm Harry Potter."

"Ah, I see. Hello, Harry Potter. Yes, my Grandpa thinks your parents were very brave standing up to the Dark Lord. He says that my mom and dad stood up for what they believed in and was killed for it too. I can't remember them at all, but Grandpa says I look just like my mom. Who are your friends, Harry?"

James was the first to pipe up after Harry, "I'm James LeStrange. Can I ask why you are here? Not that we don't enjoy the company or anything…"

"I take no offense, James LeStrange. My Grandpa is here to renew the Dark Alliance with the Houses of Nott, Malfoy, LeStrange, and Black. He also wants to add House Potter to the alliance. I'm just here because he didn't want to leave me at home with the elves." Lily responded, looking dreamily at James which kind of unnerved him.

"Wait, so that's why we are here?" Harry asked, looking at James and Draco, "To renew a DARK alliance?" Harry looked at his friends in disbelief.

Daphne spoke up next, "Yeah Harry, all of our families are Dark. Especially the Blacks. They were the ones who introduced this alliance in the first place. Don't worry about it Harry, nobody who is Dark actually wants you dead because you defeated You-Know-Who" Harry smiled at his friend when she said that and she squeezed his hand.

Sirius sat in the formal living room, surrounded by five of the Lords of the more powerful, darker, influential houses. Lord Lucius Malfoy, having been a Death Eater in the Wizarding War with Voldemort, was seated to his right in a single chair looking as regal as ever. While he had plead the Imperious Curse when he was tried for his crimes, a mere five years later, he virtually owned the Ministry of Magic, having funded most of Minister Fudges' election campaign. He had a direct ear to the Minister and was respected by all of the dark Houses, their de facto leader. Sirius knew that most of his testimony at his trial had been lies, including the Imperious Curse, but Malfoy had enough money to brush it under the rug with well-placed bribes and lies. He had even avoided Veritaserum, something not many of Voldemort's followers were able to do.

Lord Timothy Nott sat next to him on the couch. He had been in Sirius' year at Hogwarts and was known for his sarcasm and dick moves, even in Gryffindor. Sirius didn't really know much about his politics, but when the elder Nott brother had claimed Imperious, Timothy claimed otherwise and they threw him into Azkaban. His brother ended up dead a few years later, some said it was poison, but nobody really knows. Although, if Timothy becoming Lord Nott after his brother dying, he probably had something to do with it. However, if Sirius had any inclination to his politics was that he sat with his face held high and back straight. Whatever that meant.

Seated next to him was Lord Alexander LeStrange. Sirius' old friend. It had been a long time since they had seen each other, but they had greeted one another as if they had just departed the day before. Sirius knew his new politics though. He didn't care about blood purity, but was highly elitist; looking down upon those not of Most Ancient and Noble blood. It was simply a byproduct of being born into one of the darker families in England. He wouldn't get up and grandstand about it, but it was evident in his voting history. He had blocked plenty of Noble Houses from getting seats on the courts or Wizengamot. Sirius sympathized with him, even though some of his friends in Hogwarts weren't from Ancient or Noble Houses, but Hogwarts is different from the real world…

The Lord who had just entered, Lord Gerold Moon, was a new addition to the Dark Alliance and Wizengamot in general. His family, the Ancient and Noble House of Moon, wasn't known as one of the "Sacred Twenty-Eight" but that hadn't stopped him from rising to the powerful position of British Ambassador to the German Ministry of Magic. Sirius had heard of Lord Moon in passing several times, however he didn't remember meeting him before as the Lord had suggested. Of what he had heard of the Lord, he was cold, hard, and unforgiving, evidence of his time spent in Germany. However, many believe that his cold demeanor is a response to watching his son thrown into Azkaban for being a "Death Eater" even though he had never taken the mark. He had demanded a re-trial with Veritaserum but he was all but ignored and stonewalled. His son died there, another casualty of revenge towards those who were supporters of Voldemort. His daughter-in-law had been pregnant at that time as well and she died during childbirth.

Finally, sitting almost opposite Lord Malfoy, was Lord Cygnus Greengrass. The man who seemed to know almost everything about everyone. He had blackmail material on virtually everyone in the Wizengamot and the Ministry. Sirius really didn't know how he had done it, but Cygnus was not an enemy you want to make. His family was classified as a neutral house, but if this night was any inclination, he was moving it firmly back into the dark category. His politics mirrored both Lord Nott and Lord LeStrange, not a blood purist, but an elitist. He loved power, but wasn't one to take it. He would much rather slowly gain power the Slytherin way.

Sirius was knocked out of his musings when Lord Greengrass spoke up, "We have gathered here today to enact an Ancient Alliance between the Houses of Greengrass, LeStrange, Nott, Malfoy, Moon, and Black. In the year of Our Lord, 1095, the gathered Houses banded together in mutual protection and peace fearing increasing Church violence. This alliance was for all time, but we have forgotten about it. Wars and rumors of wars had blinded us and turned us against one another. However, with our new understanding and friendship, we wish to re-devote ourselves to this alliance, while adding one more into our ranks. The Lords of the House of Greengrass, LeStrange, Nott, Moon, and Malfoy request that Lord Black vote to accept the House we have offered entrance into this esteemed alliance."

Sirius was surprised by this sudden formality, however he quickly realized that they were using the Old Magic, "The Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black requests to know the House that has been offered membership."

Cygnus and Lucius smiled when Sirius began using a formal tone, understanding that he knew they were messing with old magic. Malfoy spoke up as Sirius ended speaking, "The Houses of Greengrass, LeStrange, Nott, Moon, and Malfoy wish to extend membership to the Most Ancient and Noble House of… *he paused for effect* Potter."

Sirius raised his eyebrows to this revelation and looked over the assembled Lords, they all were nodding in agreement with the Lord Malfoy. He cracked a large smile before pulling out his wand and responding, "The Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black votes in the affirmative for the admittance of the House of Potter. So I say it, so mote it be." His wand glowed a green color for a mere second before dissipating. As Sirius was about to speak, Cygnus held up his hand to stop him.

"As the initiator of this motion to add the House of Potter to this alliance, the House of Greengrass calls the Regent of the House of Potter to speak confirming his identity." Cygnus said, looking expectantly at Sirius.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, Head of the House of Black, am the Regent of the House of Potter and am acting in the House's best interests." Sirius said as his magic and the old magic flared around him, confirming this statement to be true.

"Regent of the House of Potter, the Houses of Greengrass, LeStrange, Nott, Moon, Malfoy, and Black have extended an invitation to join our Ancient alliance of protection and peace. What say you?" Cygnus asked as the magic in the room seemed to increase.

"I, the Regent of the House of Potter, accept this invitation and wish for the House of Potter to be entered into the Ancient Alliance. So I say it, so mote it be." Sirius said, again holding out his wand.

As he spoke, Cygnus turned to the other lords and nodded. They all removed their wands and stuck them out saying in unison, "We, the ancient alliance of the Dark, accept our new member into our ranks. We shall protect you as our own and treat you as our family. So we say it, so mote it be." There was a large flash of light from each of the Lord's wands before dissipating. They each stowed their wands before shaking each other's hands.

Lucius clapped his hands together in an excited movement and said, "Great job, Sirius! We were afraid you wouldn't know what to do! Alexander didn't know how much pureblood training you had actually received."

Sirius smiled, "I received all of it. My grandfather had felt the need to pass over my dad for the Headship, so he taught me everything. My father took the Dark Mark, so my grandad basically said, 'screw you' and gave it to me. That made for an interesting Yule when my parents figured it out."

"Ah, well I must be off, as much I would love to stay and chat. Narcissa is actually cooking tonight, and without house elf assistance! Draco is excited and I'm genuinely curious if my wife is a good cook." Lord Malfoy said as he called for Draco. The little blonde-haired boy darted into the living room and stopped right before he slammed into his father.

"Come Draco, it is time for dinner." Lucius said as he waved goodbye to the assembled Lords before Flooing home.

"Well, would you all like to stay for dinner? I'm sure Molly and the other elves could cook up some more food." Cygnus said as they made their way towards the informal living room. Lord Nott bowed his head in acceptance, Lord LeStrange mumbled something about asking Isabelle, and Sirius smiled politely before accepting.

"We, however, must be off. Lilith has a healer's appointment tomorrow and I have several appointments still to attend today. It has been a pleasure as always gentlemen." Lord Moon said as he called Lilith back to the room with the Floo.

As they departed, Sirius spoke, "Well, isn't he just a ball on sunshine?" Several of the Lords laughed while Alexander just stared at the floo.

"You know, Lilith is the only thing he has left? His wife died in the middle of the war from Dragonpox, his son died a few years later in Azkaban, his daughter-in-law died giving birth. He only has that little girl left of his family."

The children were in the next room while their fathers were all renewing the alliance. None of them understood what was really happening and how it would affect the rest of their lives, but that wasn't really that important to them. Draco was ranting to James and Harry about Quidditch and saying that they got better training brooms than him. Daphne was quietly listening but was playing dolls with Astoria while Sebastian sat in the corner reading. They were all surprised when the hall began to glow an odd color of white for several seconds before it stopped.

"Woah." They all said at roughly the same time. They descended into a silence while they tried to figure out what had happened. After about a minute of thinking, it was Sebastian that broke the silence. "It seems our fathers were successful in their alliance making." Everyone in the room looked at him before he shrugged and went back to reading.

Harry leaned into Draco and spoke, "He really creeps me out". To which Draco laughed and whispered what Harry had said to James. James just smiled and responded, "You get used to it. Like I said, he's really smart."

It was then when Lucius Malfoy's voice awakened the children from their thinking, Draco offered hurried goodbyes before dashing into the next room. He had just as quickly Flooed home. The rest of the parents made their way to dining room while Sirius stuck his head into the parlor, "Hey kiddos, James, Sebastian, and Harry are staying for supper and it's ready right now. So get a move on to the kitchen!"

James and Harry both let out a happy "Yes!" and ran from the room. Daphne and Astoria both rolled their eyes at the boy's reaction while Sebastian brought up the rear of the group. He always seemed to bring up the rear and to an outside observer, it would seem he was always forgotten. While he sometimes was, he was friends with all of them and they were all friends with him and that was good enough for him.

When they all reached the dining room, Harry and James were sitting at the end of the table and had saved three seats for their friends. Next to James sat Lady LeStrange with a child on a booster seat next to her, Paige Jane LeStrange, the younger sibling of James at the ripe old age of two. Harry looked around farther and saw that all the parents were siting farther up the table with Lord LeStrange having drawn the short straw. He had been banished to the child area of the table to watch them, so he sat right next to Harry.

"Hello again, Harry, how are you today?" Alexander said, cutting off the conversation Harry, Daphne, and James were having. It wasn't that important of a conversation as they were all of six years old, but they all looked annoyed.

"I'm okay, Lord LeStrange. I have a question for you though." Harry said, looking right into the dark brown eyes of the Lord sitting next to him. Lord LeStrange turned his head for a second to look at the young boy and nod in acceptance of his question before continuing to scoop food onto his plate, "Is your nickname Talons?"

Alexander shot his eyes to Harry, "Indeed it is, Harry. How did you know that?" He seemed surprised at his knowledge.

"Well, before Yule, Padfoot and I were talking about my parents and their Hogwarts years and he showed me the map you guys made. He said Talons was you." Harry said, turning back to his plate having his question confirmed.

"Dad, does Harry have the same map you have?" James asked while Daphne, Astoria, and Sebastian looked on confused.

"We made five of them, one for each of us. That's how we could do all of our pranks. We knew where the Hogwarts caretaker and prefects were at all times. It was a pretty cool piece of parchment." Alexander smiled at his and his friend's ingenious idea. It had saved their hides more than once.

"Do you think we could have one, Lord LeStrange?" Daphne asked, after she built up the courage to say something.

"I think Harry or James would be willing to lend it to you at school. But there may be an extra one still there, Wormtail's got taken by the caretaker in our seventh year. So you might be able to get one for yourself. We put trackers on all of them, so you'll be able to find it really easy when you get to Hogwarts." Alexander looked to the young Greengrass Heiress, smiling all the while. Daphne looked as happy as could be. She might be as cool as Harry or James. Alexander then turned to Harry.

"Harry, how would you like to come over to the LeStrange Manor sometime? We have a Quidditch pitch and a pool."

"Will Daphne, Astoria, Draco, and Sebastian be there?" Harry asked, not wanting to exclude his other friends. He had really taken a liking to his new friends and excluding them felt wrong.

"Oh yeah, they come over all the time. Much more than I would like them to but…" Alexander was about to continue but Isabelle shot him the death glare from across the table while trying to get Paige to eat her peas. Lord LeStrange just sent his wife a look that said "What?" and raised an eyebrow, to which his wife responded with a roll of her eyes and turned her attention back to the two-year-old. Alexander just smiled at her turned face and waved his hand over a small bracelet on his right hand. The writing quickly changed to what Alexander was thinking: " _You're cute when you're mad."_ Isabelle felt her bracelet warm and looked down at the message from her husband, she waved her hand over it and sent back a reply: " _You're still not getting any_."

"Damn." Alexander muttered to himself, too quiet for anybody to hear.

Harry had turned his attention back to the other kids, and they were talking about little things. They were stopped by the tapping of a glass by Cygnus, "May I have your attention? I just wanted to raise a toast to our Lord Sirius Black and Heir Harry Potter, may you always succeed in life and live it to the fullest."

"Here, here!" Lord Timothy Nott said as the Lords and Ladies tapped their glasses. The kids at the end of the table did the same, which got a laugh from the adults. When the adults began to drink, it was obvious that one of the ladies had sent her drink down.

Not trying to draw attention to his wife's gaff and almost disrespect of Lord Black and Heir Potter, Cygnus leaned over to Annabelle and said, "Sweetheart, you're supposed to drink when we toast."

"I know," she responded, trying to be as quiet as possible. "I can't."

"Are you alright? Is there something wrong?" asked Cygnus, becoming slightly worried at his wife's response.

"I don't want to get your hopes up," Annabelle said as she tried to get up. Cygnus grabbed her hand to stop her. She was half way standing and now was leaning over the table.

"Isabelle! Something's wrong with Anna! Come up here and do some diagnostic spells!" Cygnus yelled down the table as Annabelle tried to get her hand free. Alexander was already standing calling for the Greengrass house elves. Isabelle dropped the spoon full of peas and ran to the top of the table, her wand in her hand. She began cast every healer's diagnostic spell she knew before she stopped. Her last one had shown a positive on her abdomen. "Oh."

"What's wrong Isabelle, is Anna going to be alright?" Cygnus asked, finally letting go of his wife's hand.

"Oh yes, everything is perfectly fine. It just looks like you're going to have a baby boy running around the Greengrass Manor in about six months." Isabelle said and watched as Cygnus' eyes got very large.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Cygnus asked his wife as he stood, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"I just found out this morning, I was going to tell you when everybody had left…" she trailed off before he pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek. Their moment was interrupted when two blonde haired girls screamed at the same time and started jumping up and down. The adults turned to look at them as all three of the boys looked like they didn't care at all. Alexander dispersed the assembled house elves and everyone retook their seats.

"Well, it seems another toast is in order. One that Mrs. Greengrass shouldn't partake in." Lord Nott said as he stood and raised his champagne glass into the area, "To you and your baby's health, Annabelle. And to Cygnus' unmentionables, who won't be getting anything for the next 6 months."

There was a gasp from Lady LeStrange at the last comment, but it was pretty much drowned out by the laughs from Alexander and Sirius. Cygnus just buried his head in his hands, laughing heartily. It had been a good night, there would be a new addition to the Greengrass clan and the Dark alliance was secure once again.


	5. The One With Harry's Wand

_**Chapter 5: A Marauder's Choice – Operation: Wands for Dayz**_

 **August 14** **th** **, 1988 – Greengrass Manor**

"Harry! Thanks for coming!" Daphne yelled happily as she rushed him and wrapped him up into a big hug. There were more signs of yelled greetings from the adjacent room as Harry had stepped from the Floo into the front room of the Greengrass Manor. It was about nine in the morning, with Sirius having been forced to go the bimonthly Wizengamot meeting with the other Lords.

"Happy Birthday Daph! I brought you a present!" Harry said as he handed her a small gift wrapped in pink flowery paper.

Daphne gave a small ' _eep'_ in delight before hugging Harry again. "Come on! Everybody else is in the next room! We haven't started yet and we have a big day planned!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the next room. Harry immediately saw all of his friends had already arrived. Draco and James were, as always, arguing in the corner about Quidditch while Astoria listened quite intensely. Sebastian was reading in the same corner, not looking a bit annoyed at the antics of the other boys. Tracey Davis was sitting on one of the couches talking and playing with the little Paige LeStrange, who was now four.

When Harry entered, James and Draco stopped arguing and looked at the new arrival before smirking at Harry who hadn't let go of Daphne's hand. He blushed before letting go, which surprised Daphne but she brushed it off. "Okay, since everybody is here now, let's get this party started!" Daphne said as her mother entered with her little brother, Thomas Greengrass.

"Now Daphne, you can open presents later. We have to go to Diagon Alley to get your birthday present from us as well as all of your guests presents!" Lady Greengrass said as she looked at the assembled children.

"Wait, we get presents too? Sweeeeet!" Draco said as he high fived Harry and James.

"Well, we 'ave to go get your wands today, so I guess you do!" Lady LeStrange answered as she followed Annabelle into the parlor. There was a muffled and annoyed, _Mum!_ from James as she entered but she couldn't hear it, "We are going down ze Knockturn Alley to Hephaestus's Wandcrafting shop to get each of you your wands. Zat way we can start you with some tutoring!"

The eight-year-old kids quickly celebrated, but the seven-year-old Astoria looked put out. She wasn't going to be eight for another year, "Mummy, can I please come with Daphne and get my wand?" She put on her best puppy dog face, which usually worked with her father but not really well on her mother.

Annabelle looked at her disheartened youngest daughter. If she refused, Astoria would run off crying and wouldn't celebrate Daphne's birthday. If she accepted, Astoria would start learning basic spells and would probably not cry… Not like it really mattered, Lord LeStrange had already said that she should get her wand to begin to get tutored anyways.

"Okay, 'Stori. You can come. But remember, this is about Daphne and her friends. Don't annoy them." Lady Greengrass said as she leaned down to Astoria's level and kissed her head. Astoria hugged her mom before running off to her room, mumbling something about her cloak.

The two chaperones, Lady Greengrass and LeStrange quickly gathered up the kids and Flooed to the Leaky Caldron before making their way over to the first shop inside Knockturn Alley.

 **August 14th, 1988 – Ministry of Magic**

"I'm telling you, Timothy, I've seen the agenda for today's meeting. The blood-traitor, Arthur Weasel, is trying to push through a bill giving Mudbloods seats on the Wizengamot. He also wants to relax restrictions on several dark creatures." Lucius Malfoy, Lord of the House of Malfoy, was ranting as he and the rest of the alliance sat in the private Malfoy meeting room, which was connected directly to the Wizengamot chamber.

"I don't believe it. He can't believe that this will actually pass?" replied Timothy, leaning farther onto the table.

"He seems to have Chief Wizard Dumbledore's support and several of the Light Houses. I don't think they will win, but they can always try." Lucius said as he laughed. He knew that this legislation would never pass. The Dark houses would reject it on the principle of blood purity, the neutral houses would reject it for taking power from their votes and blood purity, and the light houses would reject it for the same reasons of the neutral houses. It was token legislation and everybody knew it.

As he thought, Timothy and Lucius were brought out of their musings by the arrival of Alexander, Sirius, and Cygnus. "Nice of you gentlemen to show up. We were getting worried."

"Sirius couldn't get up apparently. I thought that Daphne's party would get him off of his pillow, but it seems he taught Harry how to use the floo on his own..." Cygnus responded as he took a seat at the dark colored wooden table, "What's the word?"

"It seems the Weasels are trying to get muggleborns seats on the Wizengamot. It's not going to work, but if anything, they are persistent." Lucius said as he passed several copies of the bill to the late Lords.

Alexander and Sirius both rolled their eyes at the bill itself, but were equally amused by the antics of Dumbledore's lap dogs. If Dumbledore himself had ever tried to pass a law like this, he would be voted out that day. But by having the Weasley's present the bills, he saved face while dragging the Weasley name through the mud. They were still a Most Ancient House but had lost the "Noble" title after their wealth had evaporated. They were now the laughing stock of the Wizarding World and the Purebloods. They had only barely held onto their Wizengamot seat after Malfoy and Nott had lead a jihad against them a few years prior.

"…that sound good, Sirius?" said Cygnus as he crumpled up the parchment the bill was printed on and threw it into the garbage bin.

"Huh?" Sirius responded as his mind was brought back into the meeting and the task at hand, "Yup, sounds good."

Alexander rolled his eyes while Lucius and Timothy just nodded. Cygnus looked slightly concerned but couldn't say anything as a knock on the door signaled the meeting was about to begin. All five of the assembled Lords stood and made their way into the chamber and into their respective seats. They sat at the very front, as was how the Most Ancient and Noble Houses sat. Behind them, in the second row, were the Ancient and Noble Houses. In the third row were just the Noble houses, with the fourth row having those Ancient Houses that were no longer Noble.

The Lords took their alphabetized seats as the Chief Warlock rapped his gavel three times before speaking, "I call this meeting of the Wizengamot meeting to order. First order of business is the reports from Minister Fudge and the Department Heads…" Minister Fudge seemed to drone on and on about worthless information while the rest of the reports went fairly quickly.

"Thank you, Minister Fudge and Department Heads for those wonderful reports. Are there any questions on any of the reports?" Chief Warlock Dumbledore asked and waited for a response before continuing, "If there are no questions, we move onto new bills. The first bill is called, 'The Muggleborn Equality Act' and has been proposed by Lord Arthur Weasley." There were a few snorts in the front rows at the "Lord" part of the Wealsey's name, but Albus continued, "If you would present your bill, Lord Weasley."

The Weasley clan's leader stood from his seat before clearing his throat. He had spoken in front of the chamber before, so this wasn't new to him. However, he was visibly sweating and was particularly nervous for some reason… No doubt Lord Malfoy's threat had been delivered.

"The A-Ancient House of W-Weasley would like to withdraw our b-bill from the f-floor." He was stuttering and trying to look as calm as possible but was failing miserably. That caused Sirius to look over at Lucius, who just smirked back at him and raised his wand.

"I second the motion to remove the bill from the floor", Lucius said as smugly as possible to the Chief Warlock.

Dumbledore just shot him a glare and replied, "You know as well as I do, Lord Malfoy, that you do not need to second a removal of a bill from the floor if the house that it was presented by removes it."

"My apologies, Chief Warlock." Lucius drawled as he stared right back at the Wizard. He lowered his wand back into his wand holster as he smugly smiled.

 _ **An Hour Prior – Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office/Ministry of Magic**_

Arthur Weasley, the Department Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, ran around his office trying to get everything ready for his day at the Wizengamot ready. He had a couple bills to propose and needed all of the relevant data to back them up. He knew it was a long shot getting either of them passed, with the purebloods stamping out anything they disliked, but he had to try.

As he grabbed the last bit of parchment, a letter shot down the chute into his office. He absentmindedly grabbed it and headed to the chambers. He arrived with five minutes to spare and was able to watch several of the darker houses enter the chamber through on of their private meeting rooms. As they sat, he shuffled through the pile of parchment. When he was called to give his report, he stood up confidently and spoke about the dangers of using muggle artefacts and especially the infamous "rubber duck". When he finished, he took his seat once again and opened the wax sealed envelope. When it opened, a letter and wizarding picture of his oldest son in Egypt slid out.

 _Mr. Weasley._

 _It has come to my attention that you plan to propose a bill to give muggleborns several seats on our esteemed Wizengamot. I represent several entities that wish this not to happen. Drop the bill and everything will be as it normally is. Continue this path, and life for you and your family will become very hard._

 _Take a really good look at the picture enclosed with this letter, Weasley. I would hate for something bad to happen to your eldest son, William. But, as you know, in a line of work such as curse-breaking, accidents are known to happen._

 _Drop the bill. I will be watching._

 _ **Back to the present – Wizengamot Chambers**_

Lucius sat back into his seat and was smugly smirking at his victory. After the bill had been removed from the floor, Arthur had picked up his things and bustled out the door. Without the originator of the Weasel's second bill there, it was now up to the Chief Warlock to present it.

"The second bill proposed by Lord Arthur Weasley, who has now exited the chambers. Due to his hasty retreat, the bill will be tabled."

The Chief Warlock rapped his gavel on the table once again and declared the meeting over and to meet again in two weeks' time. It was early in the afternoon, so the Lords decided to get a late lunch.

 **August 14th, 1988 – Knockturn Alley**

As the small group of children and chaperones made their way into the alley and towards the wandcrafting store, Harry looked up above the door and saw the name: _Hephaestus's Wandcrafting: The Greatest Custom Wands since 900 B.C._

As they entered, they saw an older gentleman with, as it seemed to Harry, a limp walk to the front of the store. Harry also noticed that his eyes were a very pale blue, almost like the iris' weren't even there. When Lady LeStrange had entered and closed the door, the man spoke, "Ah, Isabelle! It has been a long time! How is your wand treating you? 10 and 9/16th inches of rosewood with your own Veela Hair as its core?"

"Et iz working very well, Hephaestus. However, we are 'ere for ze children today!" Isabelle responded as she shook the hand of the wand crafter.

"Ah, but first they must understand why you are here instead of at the Diagon Alley shop of Ollivander's." Hephaestus responded as he took out the multitude of woods and cores, "You see children, there are two different types of people who build wands for wizards and witches. There are the wandmakers, like Gerrick Ollivander, and there are wandcrafters, like myself. Wandmakers are convinced that the wand selects the wizard, which is hogwash. They only believe that because they make the wands in advance before their customer ever steps foot in their door! But I, old Hephaestus, know the real truth: the wizard selects the wand. But not by how you're thinking. When a wizard or witch comes to my shop, we match them with each component of their wand. The wand wood, core, and length should complement the wizard and enhance their abilities. Anyway, I believe there is a birthday girl in that gaggle of children, come here Daphne! You will be first!"

Daphne quickly made her way to the front on the shop and to the shorter counter made for small children getting their wands. As she stood there, Hephaestus laid out all of the different types of wood that he could make a wand out of. "Ok, Miss Greengrass, I want you to slowly pick up each block of wood and let me know which one you like the best."

She picked up each type of wood, some feeling extremely cold while others felt like there was nothing in her hand. As she made her way through, she finally picked the Elm brick. It felt extremely warm and inviting, almost as if there was an instant connection. "Ah, I thought you may choose this one. Now I have to measure you." As he did so, she stood there as still as possible, trying not to mess anything up, "11 and 3/8th inches. Good! Now, hover your hand over each of these wand cores and tell me the same. I wager to bet most of you in this group will have dragon heartstring or unicorn hair as your wand cores…"

Daphne did as she was told, hovering her hand over the three cores she was presented with. Starting with the unicorn hair. "I've found it! It's the unicorn hair! It's so pretty!" Daphne said as she looked inside the jar full of unicorn hairs.

"Good job Miss Greengrass! You did excellent! Now onto the rest of your friends!" Hephaestus said as he motioned for Harry to make his way to the counter since he was at the front of the group of children. As Harry approached, he handed Daphne's now completed wand to her beaming face, "Oh, Mister Potter-Black, I wasn't expecting you to get your wand from my humble shop. The Fates, or as I knew them ' _the Moirai'_ ,had destined you for a different path, but it seems your Godfather has outwitted them. You will be a most interesting customer indeed…"

"What do you mean, sir?" Harry asked, staring at the old man.

"It is of no consequence, Mr. Potter-Black. The Fates had destined you to a life of pain and suffering, but your Godfather put his duty before revenge and outwitted them. I am glad to see he did. Your life will be very different, Mr. Potter-Black. Very different indeed." Hephaestus said as he stared into the emerald eyes of Harry. It was almost unnerving to the young boy, but he stared right back. Suddenly, the old man's countenance changed dramatically and was once more chipper, "Anyway, we must get you a wand! Do as Miss Greengrass did before and wave your hand over the woods please!"

Harry did as he was told and slowly ran his hand over each wood, feeling the magic inside him and the magic in the wand's wood. He rested upon the Holly wood and nodded towards the wandcrafter, "It's this one." Harry picked up the wood and handed it to the man.

"Indeed it is, Harry. Holly wands are for those who have a divine quest in front of them and you do indeed. Now, please be still as I measure you!" the old man said as he brought his measuring tape to weird places on Harry: measuring the length of his shoulder to his knee, ear to mouth, nose to his shoe. He had finally finished measuring after some five minutes and said, "10" and 15/16th, good length. Now Mister Potter-Black, the cores."

Harry began waving his hands over the cores like Daphne had done before him. He slowly made his way over the cores, finally picking up two, "I feel the same warmth for both of these sir? Did I do something wrong?" Harry asked, feeling almost let down. He looked back at Isabelle, who was smiling ear to ear. She nodded encouragingly and Harry turned back towards the wandcrafter.

"Of course not Mr. Potter-Black, this is most unusual however. I haven't had a dual-core wand in many centuries…", Hephaestus mused to himself as he grabbed the Horned Serpent horn and Phoenix feather from the young man, "This is a most special wand, Harry. Tell me, have you ever been able to speak to snakes?"

Harry's eyes widened as the other children's eyes reacted the same. "How did you know that sir? Dad says that I'm special. He says I'm a Parselmouth."

"Indeed you are, Harry. You can speak to snakes and your wand will be adept at parslemagic!" the man said excitedly, "I haven't had a Parselmouth in my shop since I was in Greece… Anyway," Hephaestus placed the two wand cores onto Harry's chosen wood and ran his hands over them, magic and power radiating off them. They slowly rose off the counter and combined into a single wand of Holly. He smiled at his work before extending the wand to Harry, "I sense that you will do great things with that wand, Harry. Great things indeed."

As Harry grabbed the wand from the wandcrafter, Daphne whispered in his ear, "Geez Harry, even on my birthday you have to be cool." She giggled as she kissed his cheek causing him to suddenly blush. Harry then stepped back into the group of children while Draco approached the front counter, to do the same as Daphne and Harry had done.

James suddenly was whispering in his ear like Daphne had done only moments early, but Harry just hoped his statement/question wouldn't be followed by what Daphne had done. "Hey, when did you become Potter-Black? I knew you were the Heir-Presumptive to House Black, but Potter-Black means you are blood related?"

 _ **Flashback – July 31**_ _ **st**_

" _Happy Birthday Harry! Wakey Wakey!" Sirius said as he stood over his Godson's bed with his head a mere inch from Harry's face. It wasn't as early as usual, but it was seven o'clock. Too early in Harry's opinion, but Sirius didn't sleep well these days… Harry had talked to him about it once, but Sirius had dodged and just said that his memories of the war kept him awake._

 _Sirius was never going to tell him that the screams of people who were once his friends filled his nightmares. Each dying in a gruesome way, some the actual way they died, others by the most disgusting ways Sirius thought they had died. James and Lily were often seen, even though he knew the way they died. Sometimes he would watch as the Dark Lord stood over them and laughed before turning his wand on Harry, while other times they would stand there and say it was his fault that they trusted Peter._

" _Alright, I'm up. What's the big deal? I'm only eight. Calm down." Harry said as he opened his eyes to see his godfather above him, "AHHHH!" He slid off to the left of his bed and onto the floor, obviously having been unprepared for the ugly that had greeted him. "You're looking as ugly as ever, Padfoot."_

" _Wow. Rude. This is why no one likes you, Harry." Sirius retorted as he straightened his back and walked towards the door, "Get dressed, I have something important to ask you."_

" _Well, at least Daphne likes me." Harry yelled back at his godfather who was already out the door, "You don't even know who AB is yet!"_

" _Get out here, I grown tired of your insolence." Sirius said as he stifled a laugh. Being the strict Dad was fun._

" _Pssh, whatever." Harry mumbled to himself as he quickly threw on some clothes and ran down the stairs in pursuit of his Godfather. As he rounded the corner into the living room, he was surprised to find Sirius standing with Ragnok, the goblin account manager of both the Potter and Black fortunes._

" _Harry, I have something important to ask you. You know I have you as my Heir in my will and I have always viewed you as my son anyway, would you like to become my son in blood?" Sirius said as serious as he could manage. By the shocked look on Harry's face, he knew he had accomplished it, "You would still be a Potter and you would still be the son of James and Lily, you would just be my son as well. You may change a bit in appearance though. Some of your Black traits would probably be a bit more evident."_

" _Ummm. What would I have to do?" Harry asked meekly, looking at Sirius with tear soaked eyes._

" _Ragnok here has prepared a potion for you. It's called the 'Blood Adoption Potion'. It's been outlawed by the Ministry, but what they don't know won't hurt em. *he cracked a smile at his godson* The old families used to take muggleborns if they couldn't have an heir and use a stronger version of this potion to make them completely blood related to them. That's why it was outlawed. Like I said though, this potion makes it so you are still a Potter. It's much weaker."_

" _Okay, let's do it." Harry smiled as he stared up at his godfather for the last time._

" _Splendid."_

 _ **Flashback End**_

"Yeah, Dad gave me a potion to blood adopt me on my birthday. It's pretty cool." Harry said as he turned back towards Draco who had just gotten himself a 10 1/5ths inch Hawthorn wand with dragon heartstring. The wandcrafter had said that unicorn hair or dragon heartstring would work, but Draco couldn't have both so he picked the one with the "cooler name". Harry watched as each of his friends also received their custom wand: Sebastian with a 11 1/7ths inch Walnut with dragon heartstring, James got a 13 7/9ths inch Yew with dragon heartstring, Tracey Davis got a 13 1/16ths inch Chestnut with unicorn hair, and Astoria picked a 9 and 11/12ths inch ebony wand with unicorn hair.

"That's pretty sweet. Dad always says that blood is important, no matter if you're a half-blood or pureblood. He doesn't like muggleborns though, he says they try to change our world when they come to Hogwarts." James whispered back as he walked back to Harry, now holding his brand-new wand.

"Yeah, Padfoot says the same thing", Harry whispered back before Astoria ran over to James to talk his ear off about how cool getting a wand was and that they would now get to learn magic together.

"Alright children! It's time to head back to Manor and continue Daphne's party!" Mrs. Greengrass said, "Thank Mr. Hephaestus for his time and expertise!" A chorus of children's thank you's followed her statement as Mrs. LeStrange led them out into the street. As the children exited, Annabelle paid for the wands and left as well.

 **August 14th, 1988 – Leaky Cauldron**

Sirius and the other Lords entered the ramshackle pub, known as the Leaky Cauldron, from the Diagon Alley entrance with a groan from Lord Malfoy.

"Is there a problem, Lord Malfoy?" Sirius asked Lucius as he pushed through the stone door.

Lucius looked around the pub with his classic sneer, "I find this pub… wanting." He drawled, "My house elves cook better than this wretched hive of scum. My drinks are actually of vintage, rather than whatever passes as alcohol here…"

Alexander snorted in laugher, "Lord Malfoy, your privilege is showing." This garnered laughs from the other Lords and even some from the crowd in the pub itself, Lucius was none too amused however.

As they called for a table and menus, they laughed about Lord Weasley's poor attempt at the Wizengamot as well as at Dumbledore himself. They each ordered, with Lucius preferring to call one of his house elves for food which caused an argument with the server. As they argued, the Lords ate while waiting for their children to walk through.

"James! Put your sister down you'll 'urt 'er!" Isabelle LeStrange scolded as James lifted Paige onto his shoulder.

"She kicked me!" James exclaimed, bringing attention to their antics from their fathers.

"James LeStrange, you put your sister down this instant." A cool voice called from a darker part of the Leaky Cauldron. James immediately set his sister down and adopted his best impression of a pureblood Lord, "We will talk about your behavior when we get home."

"Alexander, you do you have to be so mean?" Sirius asked the father quietly.

Alexander leaned towards Sirius and whispered softly, "Our children must act their station, lest we look like fools and they dishonor our house. Much like the Weasley's have done to their own House." He chuckled at that last comment.

"Annabelle, will you take the children back to the Manor? We will be along after we finish our food." Cygnus Greengrass called from the table they had been sitting at. She quickly nodded and ushered the children through the floo back to the Greengrass Manor.

"I believe I will be leaving now Gentlemen, this establishment has sullied my dress robes." Lucius spat, sneering at the server, "Dobby? *the excitable house elf popped into existence* Take my food back to the Manor…"

"See you later Lucius", Timothy called while shoving another cookie into his mouth.

"Of that, I am sure…" Lucius drawled before shouting Malfoy Manor into the floo and leaving.

"What a pompous nitwit." Timothy muttered under his breath, "I'm glad my son got intelligence. Unlike Draco, who just got Lucius' looks." This drew several laughs from the other Lords who were slightly younger than Lucius. They all finished eating before Alexander and Cygnus flooed back to the Greengrass Manor to help with the party while Timothy and Sirius wanted naps.

 **August 14th, 1988 – Greengrass Manor**

The group of children exited from the Floo into the front room of the Manor with their brand-new wands in hand. As the excited children talked to each other, chatting about what cool spells they were going to learn and use once tutoring started, Lord Greengrass and LeStrange came through the floo.

"There will be not foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this Manor, children." Cygnus said as Alexander rolled his eyes at his friend muttering about a greasy git as he walked to the kitchen, "I expect each of you to act responsibly with those wands. They are powerful and dangerous." All the children quickly nodded their heads, still exceedingly excited about the possibility of learning.

"Pro tip: Don't sleep with your wand! You'll roll over while sleeping and break it and have to go get another one. That was embarrassing." Alexander called from the kitchen before dropping a pot on his foot. "Cygnus, where the heck is the candy hidden? _Accio Candy!_ " That spell was followed by more clamoring of pans.

"I'll see you children later; I have to go babysit the help." Cygnus whispered to the kids, causing giggles and laughter. As he was walking away to the kitchen, he called out the Alexander, "I swear I told you, what are you? A child?" This elicited several more laughs from the kids.

"I swear, zey are both children…" Isabelle LeStrange said as she watched Lord Greengrass retreat into the kitchen, "Alright children, eet iz time to open Daphne's presents!" Daphne celebrated as she ran into the living room where the presents had all been stashed…


	6. The One With the Red Headed Menace

**AN: Hi y'all, sorry for the very long update time. I am a full-time student in college and currently have been really busy. But as the spring ends and summer begins, I will have plenty of time!** Amelia Bones' age has been changed for the purposes of this story. She kind of looks like Anna Kendrick, I'm just bad at describing people.

 _ **Chapter 6: A Marauder's Choice – Operation: Entering Hogwarts**_

The next few years passed like a blur for Sirius, but for Harry they seemed to drag on and on. While he had received his wand when he was eight, Harry couldn't use it. Not that Sirius or anybody was preventing it, his magical core just wouldn't stabilize. Sirius had taken him to Lady LeStrange, who was one of the more prominent healers at St. Mungos, but she had said that some children's cores just take longer to stabilize.

"You know, 'Arry? Some of ze Wizard's and Witch's cores stabilize enough to use a wand until zey hit the age of ten? Oui? Some of ze most powerful wizards didn't have zeir magic stabilize 'til ten!" Lady LeStrange had asked, trying to ensure that Harry didn't feel left behind by his friends. While he wasn't actually behind his friends, as they had all had learned the theory and wand movements behind most of the first-year spells, Harry just couldn't get his magic to follow through his wand. He had sat by the fireplace in the Potter Manor living room for hours, flicking his wand at anything that could move, hoping that maybe that time the _Wingardium Leviosa_ charm would work. Sometimes the object would shake or move a tiny bit, causing him to run to Sirius to tell him all about it and talk about how he was going to be like his friends soon. Sirius would always smile at him and comment that he was going to become a fantastic wizard someday.

* * *

 **July 31** **st** **, 1991 – Potter Manor**

"AAHHHHHHHH MERLIN! THERE IS AN OWL PECKING MY HEAD! HARRY HELP!" Sirius screamed as he ran into the living room from the grounds of Potter Manor with an owl flapping his wings on his head.

"Padfoot, stand still! NIBBY!" Harry yelled chasing the Sirius with his wand in hand, "I don't know what to do!"

"Nibby is being here Master Harry!" the Potter House elf said as he popped into the living room, being greeted by two running boys.

"Nibby! DO SOMETHING!" Harry and Sirius both yelled as Sirius ran by once again with the owl still on his head. As the ran by, Nibby snapped his fingers and a stream of blue light sped towards the owl, impacting it on the wing. It slowly stopped pecking and fell to the floor.

"What did you do to it?" Harry asked, as Sirius called another elf to heal his bleeding head.

"Nibby being using elf magic to knock owl out for a few hours. I is being taking to owl out of Potter Manor now." With that the elf picked up the owl and popped away.

"What would we do without elves?" Sirius asked as he continued rubbing his head earning him a scolding from the elf trying to heal it.

"Probably starve and die", Harry responded, plopping down in a chair in the Potter Manor living room, "Dad, why was there an owl on you head in the first place?"

"Well, it brought your Hogwarts letter and I tried opening it but it attacked me!" Sirius said with added emphasis at the end.

"My Hogwarts letter finally came? Give it to me!" Harry yelled excitedly as he snatched the letter from Sirius' hands and read it aloud.

"HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. H. Potter-Black,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress"

"That's it, what am I supposed to bring?" Harry said as he looked at the letter confused before flipping it over, "Ohhhh." Garnering a laugh from Sirius.

"HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4\. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS

ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK"

"I can't bring my own broom! What hogwash!" Harry raged as he gave the letter back to Sirius and ran over to the floo to call Draco and James.

Later that day, as Sirius read over the letter from Hogwarts, a different letter started to glow on the mantel above the fireplace. Sirius set the acceptance letter down on the end table and made his way over to the letter, gently picking up the old will of James and Lily. Sirius opened the letter and the words, _The Regent of the House of Potter shall retrieve a letter from the Potter Vault to be given to Harry Potter when he receives his Hogwarts letter,_ were glowing a deep green color. Sirius smiled as he remembered the letters he had received from James and Lily.

* * *

 **July 31st, 1991 – Gringotts Bank**

Sirius and Harry made their way to the bank later that day with Sirius wanting a nap. As they approached the great bronze door with marble steps, Harry read the warnings placed on each of the marble pillars flanking the door.

 _Enter, stranger, but take heed_

 _Of what awaits the sin of greed_

 _For those who take, but do not earn,_

 _Must pay most dearly in their turn._

 _So if you seek beneath our floors_

 _A treasure that was never yours,_

 _Thief, you have been warned, beware_

 _Of finding more than treasure there._

Sirius and Harry ascended the steps into the bank, Harry leaned into Sirius to talk to him, "That sounds more like a challenge than a warning…" Sirius just chuckled at his son's comment but made no correction. Was it a challenge? Perhaps… The two young wizards entered the bank, being careful not to knock into anyone or annoy the goblins guarding the doors.

"Professor Dumbledore gave me this. It's about You-Know-What in Vault You-Know-Which" Hagrid whispered as Harry and Sirius walked past towards the main teller's station. Harry looked at the half-giant with curiosity but continued along, following Sirius closely behind.

"The Regent Potter and Mister Harry Potter wish to access the Potter Family Vault." Sirius said in a commanding tone to the goblin who just looked up over his glasses.

"Very well."

The mine cart zoomed through the bank, soon reaching to required vault. The little goblin hopped from the cart and onto the platform outside the vault.

"Lamp please." The goblin asked as Sirius handed the small lamp to the creature. As they waited, the goblin ran his hand down the vault, seemingly unlocking the massive door. "Blood please." Harry quickly extended his hand to the goblin who used his nail to prick the little boys finger and deposit some of the blood onto the door.

The door snapped open revealing mountains of galleons and treasure, which shocked Harry. He knew he was rich but not this rich! Sirius noticed his googly eyes and laughed, "Harry, we are just here for the letter. No need to grab any money."

After searching for a few moments, Harry picked up an old letter addressed to him. "Found it Padfoot!"

Sirius just nodded and took the letter from Harry's outstretched hand. Sirius took a seat in one of the old chairs in the vault which caused a look of annoyance from the goblin but he remained quiet. As Sirius opened the letter and small glass vial fell out, clattering against the floor. Harry picked it up as he came to sit on Padfoot's lap.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I hope that unbreakable charm on the vial still works because James demanded I include it. There is a memory in it of James talking to future you in our bedroom. He really didn't want to write a letter but rather just talk to you so you could hear his voice. I thought it was stupid but James is stubborn. Anyway, I waited until this moment in time, when you received your Hogwarts letter to tell you about some things._

 _First, as the rightful heir of the Potter family, you now should have access to the study located in Potter Manor. However, whoever the Regent Potter is can still keep you out if they wish. I do hope at this point your guardian has told you stories about me and your father, telling you about us before and during the war. However, if they have not, I understand if they do not wish you to view our diaries which are located in the study. If they let you read them, enjoy! They are pretty detailed starting me and your father's 6_ _th_ _and 7_ _th_ _year at Hogwarts. Also, James told me to say that if you can't read the diaries, you can't watch his memory yet. Sorry._

 _Second, I suspect you have already been let on a broom even with my previous letter telling your guardian to not let you on one. Well, I tried. If you are anything like James, you'll be the best player in the school! So be good and win games for whatever house you are in._

 _Finally, I hope you enjoy your time at Hogwarts. You learn a lot about yourself and you build lifelong friendships there. If you're anything like your father, you'll find the girl you are going to marry on the express if you haven't already. But if you do, keep annoying her about dates for years until she accepts. That's what your dad did to me and look at me, writing a letter to our son._

 _Anyway, have fun, be respectful, don't get detentions (or don't get caught), and study hard._

 _Love, Mum_

"No Harry, you can't see the diaries yet." Sirius said as he put the letter into his pocket after reading it to Harry.

* * *

 **August 28th, 1991 – Madam Malkin's**

"What is your favorite house ma'am? I heard Headmaster Dumbledore was in Gryffindor, so that one has to be the best, right?" A girl with bushy brown hair asked Professor McGonagall.

"All of the Houses have their own perks, Ms. Granger." The Professor responded, obviously trying not to engage the girl in conversation.

"Not being a blood supremacist, but mudbloods should have to go to a different store for robes. I'm tired of hearing questions about Hogwarts in line", Draco muttered to Harry, James, and Sebastian as they stood in line waiting to get fitted for their Hogwarts robes at Madam Malkins.

"Draco, you might as well just not say, 'Not being a blood supremacist' because whatever you say after that is supremacist. Not disagreeing with you or anything, just saying." Sebastian responded in a quiet tone, trying to make sure the bushy haired muggleborn in front of them didn't hear, "Maybe if we hadn't of waited until three days before the start of the term, we wouldn't have to deal with them?" Harry and James snickered as Draco just scowled at the Nott boy and pulled his wand threatening him.

James was the next one to say something, trying to get Draco and Sebastian to focus as they had devolved into whispered bickering, he spoke up to 'Ms. Granger', "Hey, I don't recognize surname Granger. Are you muggleborn?" As he spoke, the Professor and girl turned to face the eleven-year-old boys.

"If that means my parents aren't magical, then yes." As she looked at the four boys, she noticed Draco holding his wand and Sebastian grabbing his, "Are you two doing magic? Let's see it then!"

Draco and Sebastian looked at her surprised before quickly flicking their wands back in their holsters, "Nope, no magic here. I'm not sure what you are talking about." Draco responded before looking between the girl and the Professor rapidly.

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Nott, save your wand waving for Hogwarts, yes?" McGonagall asked, slight ire in her voice, "Where are your parents, boys?"

"Busy, ma'am. They had a Wizengamot meeting today. Sorry about my friends", Harry said as he looked back scornfully, "They seem to believe we aren't in public."

Prof. McGonagall huffed and turned as the Granger girl continued to look at them curiously, "I've practiced some spells since I got my wand, here let me help you." She said as she drew her wand and aimed it at Harry's bent glasses from wrestling with James earlier that day. " _Oculus Repairo_ " she recited and Harry's glasses immediately became straight once again. Harry wasn't surprised by the magic, as Sirius had fixed his glasses many times before with that same spell, but he took them off to look at them anyway. As he did, his bangs moved and revealed his lightning bolt scar. It was only for a moment, but the bushy haired girl caught sight of it.

"Holy Cricket! You're Harry Potter!" she said excitedly as she looked at the rest of the group of boys, "I'm Hermione Granger and you are?"

"I'm LeStrange, James LeStrange." James responded as he extended his hand for him to kiss hers, "Those two are Draco Malfoy and Sebastian Nott."

"Pleasure", she responded as she pursed her lips together and shook his hand quickly which surprised James. As she did so, they called her name to be fitted, "I'll see you at Hogwarts then, it's almost September 1st". She walked off and sat in the measuring chair about ten meters away.

"Draco, that Granger girl acts like your mom when she doesn't like someone." Harry said as they stood there, surprised by what had just occurred. James nodded his head in agreement while Draco just sneered.

"She seems to have a superiority complex." Sebastian supposed, "Seems to be smart though. Probably a Ravenclaw."

"Did you see that she snubbed my hand? Who does that?" James asked, almost annoyed. Nobody snubs a LeStrange, "Astoria wouldn't do that…"

"You also have a superiority complex, James. But you are bearable, that mudblood however is not." Sebastian responded as he decided it was best to read now, "And Astoria loves you. She would do anything you asked."

"What's this about Astoria?" Daphne said as she and Tracey Davis entered the shop, having seen the boys from the walkway outside, "You know she's really upset she doesn't get to come to Hogwarts this year? Mum hasn't been able to get her to come out of her room today."

"James should go talk to her", Harry said, causing Draco to exhale air in laughter as he looked at James, "He has a way with Astoria."

James rolled his eyes as they talked but couldn't help but agree. Something had always been between them; Astoria had accepted it as love but James had wondered what it really was. He had always attributed her love of him to him having Veela blood, but since Veela's were only girls, he had discounted that theory years ago. When they talked, something enraptured them about each other. They could talk for hours without noticing those around them. Whenever they touched, something would almost spark between them. He would just look at her and smile, no matter what she was doing. It seemed just being around her made him happy and vice versa.

James was brought out of his musings when Daphne nudged him, "It's your turn! Go James!"

* * *

 **August 28th, 1991 – Greengrass Manor**

"Astoria, come out of your room!" Daphne raged as she kicked the warded door, "Do you want to build a snowman? I know the spell to freeze water…"

"It's summertime, Daphne! No!" Astoria yelled from her bed, "I want to go to Hogwarts with you and Harry and James and Draco!"

"'Stori, come out here! James wants to talk to you!" Harry yelled through the door, having replaced Daphne in trying to coax the younger Greengrass out. He proceeded to grab James and push him towards the door, causing him to bounce into it.

"Ouch, geez. Don't need to be rude, Potter." James said as he pushed his ear and body against the door to see if Astoria had moved, "'Stori, come here. I need to talk to you…" He heard shuffling for a moment before the door swung open, revealing a short blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl. James toppled to the ground as his brace was taken out from underneath him.

"Oops! Sorry James! Are you okay?" She said as she bent down to check on him, "You can come in my room if you want. Nobody else can." Astoria glared at all the other assembled children before sweetly smiling at James. As James stood and made his way into the room, she slammed the door shut.

"Whelp, problem solved. My work here is done. I'm going home." Harry said, watching as one of his best friends was pulled into a room with a girl. Alone… He smirked at the thought before Daphne and Draco looked at him curiously. "James is in a room with a girl, alone…", Harry said as he smirked again. Causing Daphne to cuff him on the back of the head and shake her head as she descended the stairs back towards the living room, "Hey Daph, do you have any more stuff to get from Diagon Alley?"

"I have to get the first-year books, Harry! I already got the potions stuff and robes. I just grabbed some ingredients from Dad's lab. I already have a nice cauldron too, got it for my birthday to help Dad." Daphne called from the living room as Harry and Draco hopped down each of the steps on the stairs. Harry looked at Draco and he just shrugged.

"Okay cool, Harry and I were just going to go back and look around at the Quidditch shop but we can stop at the bookstore if you want to come!" responded Draco as the boys grabbed their cloaks from the coat rack and raced into the living room. As they arrived, Daphne cocked an eyebrow at their antics and eyed them suspiciously, "Okay, we were going to go to Borgin and Burkes to look at some of the cool stuff they have there… be quiet though. Our Dads wouldn't want us going by ourselves…"

Daphne looked at them for a moment before sighing, "Cool, I'm in." This response surprised both Harry and Draco, who had expected her to try to talk them out of it, "What? I like adventures. Plus, Mr. Borgin is friends with my dad."

"Alright, well we'll wait for you by the floo then." Harry said, still amazed that Daphne Greengrass was going to go to Knockturn Alley with them.

* * *

 **August 28th, 1991 – Borgin and Burkes**

"Let me go first, I'll talk with him." Daphne said as they approached the shop and pushed the door open. As the three eleven-year-olds entered, a shorter man bumped into them which knocked his cloak off his head revealing Lord Nott. He mumbled his apologies without looking to see whom he had bumped and apparated away, "Mr. Borgin? Are you here?"

"Ahhh. The young Masters Potter and Malfoy with the oldest Greengrass! It's a pleasure to see you here! May I ask why you call for ole' Borgin?" Borgin asked in his weird, almost high pitched voice.

Daphne nudged Harry and Draco forward as she went to peruse the shop, careful not to touch anything. Draco spoke as she walked away, "Um, yeah. Harry and I were wondering if you had any _interesting_ books on spells? Perhaps, on some of the more _obscure_ curses?"

"Young Master Malfoy, does your father know you are inquiring of such items?" a sinister smile crept across Borgin's face, revealing his crooked and yellow teeth. He hobbled off in search of his stores of books, leaving Harry and Draco at the front desk.

Harry jabbed Draco in the side, bringing his attention from the disappearing old man to him, "Draco, are you sure we should be looking for these? There are plenty of books in the Malfoy and Potter libraries about offensive magic."

"Yeah, but we both know that our dads won't let us read the best ones…" Draco responded, his grin still adorning his face.

"We can barely do the levitation charm, let alone the body bind spell…" Harry said as he began wringing his hands, obviously nervous at their current situation. As he was shifting his eyes around the store for Daphne, the man returned toting several books.

"These books are the ones you are looking for boys, I think. I'll give you a good price on the lot – 50 galleons." Borgin drawled as he eyed Harry suspiciously, "I believe your godfather sold me one of these books… *he shuffled the books for a moment before pulling one out* Here it is, _Magick Moste Deviouse,_ taken from the Black Library."

"FIFTY GALLEONS? THAT'S MY ENTIRE ALLOWANCE FOR THE NEXT TWO MONTHS!" Harry raged, "I'll come back when I can actually do spells." Draco nodded in agreement before apologizing to the shopkeep.

"Don't worry young Masters, they will still be here when you come back. I only sell these to _special_ customers." Borgin grinned evilly, slightly putting off Harry and Draco. They quickly found Daphne who had taken to looking through the jewelry section.

"What do you think about this necklace? Does it match my eyes Harry?" Daphne asked, putting the blue sapphire necklace against her neck. As it touched her neck, Harry and Draco almost tried to slap it out of her hands. "It's a protective necklace guys, calm down. Not everything in this shop is dangerous. This necklace has lots of old, protective charms on it. It would be illegal to make it now but since it's an antique, it's not. SO, does it match my eyes?"

"Ugh, yes it matches your eyes, Daph. Can we go now…" Harry groaned.

Daphne smiled sweetly before walking up to Mr. Borgin and laying the necklace down on the counter, "We both know you bought this for like 5 galleons. I'm not paying 25. 10 or I walk."

"Miss Greengrass, I never took you for such a hard negotiator. I'll give you it for 12." Mr. Borgin replied.

"Done." Daphne swiftly took the coins out of her bag and slid them towards the man while taking the necklace. "Harry, put this on me please."

Harry blushed profusely but did as he was told. She smiled as the necklace produced a green glow around her for a moment before dissipating, "Sweet, it works. Let's go get my books boys… Thanks, Mr. Borgin!"

"Anytime, Miss Greengrass!" Borgin hollered from the front desk as they exited his shop.

* * *

 **August 28th, 1991 – Flourish and Blotts**

"What do you mean, 'I forgot the list'?" Harry said in a poor imitation of Daphne as the three almost-first years entered the bookstore, causing the entrance bell to ring, "You're the one who needed to get books!"

"I mean, Harry, that I did not bring the list that stated the required books for our first year and that was a horrible impression of me. Your pitch was much too low", Daphne replied with a slight smile, obviously not worried about the list in the slightest, "I'm sure they have all the lists already here." Harry and Draco both rolled their as they let Daphne take the lead in searching for her books. As they walked through the aisles of books, a familiar red-haired family was making their way through the shop getting the books they didn't already have.

Harry and Draco both smirked and made their way to the front of the store where the Weasley matriarch was standing with her youngest son buying several second-hand books. As they watched, the mother mentioned something about forgetting a book and ordering the younger Weasley to find it. He made his way over to the aisle Harry and Draco were standing in, stopping halfway down as they blocked him.

"Ah. Red hair, hand me down clothing. You must be a Weasley." Draco sneered at the boy, "What are you, child number fifteen? Can't your mother keep her legs closed?" Harry laughed as the boy just reddened in anger.

"Weasley's have always had more than they can afford. How much are your books today Weasel?" Harry laughed as he pulled ten galleons out of his pocket, "Would this cover ALL of your books?" Ron's eyes popped out of his head at the amount of money Harry had, he looked as if he was about to try and grab them as Harry snapped him hand closed and shoved the money back in his pocket, "More money than you've ever had eh?"

As Harry and Draco laughed, Ron pulled his old wand out of his pocket, trying to threaten the boys. The only laughed harder at him, causing the red head to get even angrier. "Ronald Weasley, what is taking you so long. Just find the book! We don't have all day!" Ron huffed in anger as he quickly grabbed the book he was looking for and stomped off to his mother, "Ronald, don't you give me any attitude or it will be straight to bed with you!" They paid for the books and as the two Weasley's left, Ron glared at the boys. They just laughed and high fived in response.

"Having fun are we, boys?" Daphne said as she made her way up behind them, "I trust you aren't antagonizing our fellow purebloods…" A telling smile creeped across her face and she burst out laughing, "Did you see his face? It was almost as red as his hair! And then he pulled his wand, like he knows any actual spells!"

"Anyway, did you find the books Daph?" Harry asked after they all finished laughing.

"Yeah, they had this big poster that had all the required books for each year. Convenient eh?" she replied, making her way up to the counter to pay. She counted out the obligatory galleons and handed them to the shopkeep. The shopkeep hurriedly bagged the books up for her and handed them to her, "Here you go boys, you can carry them!"

Both boys rolled their eyes and each grabbed one of the bags Daphne had, letting her lead them to the Leaky Cauldron to floo home…

* * *

 **September 1** **st** **, 1991 – King's Cross Station**

"Come on Dad! We are going to be late!", Harry called back to Sirius as he pushed his cart through the groups of muggles who occupied the non-magical side of the station. It was only 10 a.m., but Harry wanted to make sure he got a cabin before they were all full. Truthfully, he wanted to be the first of his friends to be on the train. Bragging rights of course.

"Geez Harry, when did I get so old?" Sirius mumbled to himself as he jogged to keep up with his son. As they neared Platform 9, Sirius called from behind Harry, "Just wait a second there pup! We have to do it together!"

Harry didn't hear him as he ran right towards Platform 9 3/4. He didn't stop until he slammed his cart right into Lord LeStrange who was dropping off James at the same time. As the cart rammed right into the buttock of Lord LeStrange, the older wizard swore…

"Bloody wank, Merlin better help me if a mudblood just rammed their cart into me!" Lord LeStrange raged as he swiveled on his heels, still rubbing his butt from the pain, "Oh, it's you Harry. Good morning…" Alexander sneered as he spoke, obviously just annoyed now.

"I'm soooo sorry, Lord LeStrange! Are you okay? I didn't hurt anything right?" Harry apologized as Sirius caught up and reviewed the scene. Slightly huffing from the physical exertion he just had to partake in.

"He looks fine to me Harry, but that's why we don't run in the station. Remember that next time, okay?" Sirius said as he looked at his childhood friend, "Alex, dropping James off I presume."

"I was until your brat slammed into me." Alexander responded as a small smile creeped onto his face, "Look, James already forgot I was just injured and now is just talking to Harry about their train trip. Traitor."

"Do you want me to look at it later?" Isabelle asked, sweetly smiling at her husband as Paige held her hand.

"That can be arranged…" Alexander said with a wide grin and raised eyebrows, which garnered him an indignant huff and a muttered 'I was just making sure you were okay' from his wife. She smiled an embarrassed smile however…

"Okay, enough with… whatever that is." Sirius waved his hand at the couple in a dismissing fashion, "I have things to do. Like a nap. Harry, James! Time to go!"

The boys were shaken from their conversation by the call from Sirius, causing them to bustle over with their carts. Sirius and Alexander motioned them to go through the barrier and as the two boys took turns running through the barrier, a grumbling Lord was heard after exited the apparition point room.

"I don't why they can't just put a point on the platform itself. But no, I have to walk into the platform through the muggles." Timothy Nott angrily muttered making his way over to the Hogwarts express platform with his son in tow. As he passed Sirius and Alexander to the outside of the barrier, "Alright Sebastian, give your old man a hug and get on with it."

Sebastian hugged his dad and received a kiss on the head. As he let go, his dad pushed him through the barrier. As the other two Lords looked on, he shrugged, "Nott family tradition. Get shoved through the barrier your first time. Anyway, I've got shite to do. Later." He then apparated away with only as much as a whisper as a sign.

Sirius and Alexander just looked at each other and shook their heads before entering through the barrier themselves followed by Isabelle and Paige. When they reached the other the side, Harry and James were waiting for them with a just arrived Sebastian. They slowly pushed their carts through the groups of people, making their way to the middle of the train.

"Alright boyz, do you 'ave everyzing?" Isabelle asked while she straightened James' clothing and ruffled his hair, "You have your spezial maps, oui?"

Both boys nodded enthusiastically, responding with a yes ma'am/mum. They had been given their Marauder's maps this year on their birthdays, causing them to learn every little secret at Hogwarts. They knew what times the curfew usually started, what times the prefects changed, all the secret tunnels and passage ways, and what time the professors went on patrol. The two boys, with the help of Draco, Sebastian, Daphne, Astoria, and Tracey had compiled all the data into a little charmed notebook.

"Harry, you have your cloak, right? I'm pretty sure you grabbed it, but make sure." Sirius said, wanting to make sure they had everything they needed for pranking. Harry then checked his expanded pocket and showed Sirius that he indeed had it, "Good, whelp, we parents better get out of here. Love you Harry. Do your homework, get good grades, make out with girls… Have fun okay! See you at Christmas." Sirius pulled him into a hug and kissed his head. Harry squeezed just as hard as Sirius was and it took a minute before they both let go.

"Bye dad." Harry sniffled as he made his way over to the door to the train as James was saying goodbye to his parents. He got the same treatment but with the added, 'Bye bye big brother!' from Paige. As the boys boarded the train, their parents watched waving and crying. It was only 10:15 am, a full 45 minutes before the train left as they weren't going to wait until the train left however Sirius watched his little boy left him.

"There goes my life. My everything… What am I going to do now Talons? It's going to be too quiet around the manor now…" Sirius said as he watched his son board the train and walk down the hallway.

"You've have three thousand nine hundred and fifty-four days to figure that out Padfoot. Now you ask me?" Alexander asked, still watching his son do the same as Harry. Walking and talking with him and Sebastian. He must have just said something funny as Harry and Sebastian just started laughing. He watched as they found an open cabin and slid in, shutting the door.

"Maybe, you should try to get in touch wiz Amelia?" Isabelle said as she lifted Paige into her arms, bouncing her up and down, "Izen't she ze Director of the Magical Law Enforcement now?"

"Amelia Bones? Merlin! That's who AB is! I've been getting Christmas presents from her since Harry was five! I had completely forgotten!" Sirius said, suddenly connecting all the dots, "I doubt she would want to see me though, not with how she found out and our fight…"

"Sirius, she still loves you if you have been getting presents. Maybe she got over it?" Alexander asked as he strung his arm over his friend's shoulder, leading him back towards the magical barrier. As the approached, the barrier flared, admitting a tiny red-haired girl onto the platform followed by a brown-haired, 31-year-old woman. Her eyes were the color of steel with hair flowing to the middle of her back. As she entered, her eyes met with Sirius' causing her to slightly smile and look down at her shoes.

"Auntie Amelia! I've got to hurry if I want to find Hannah!" the little red-head said as she hugged her aunt who had to tear her eyes from Sirius to look at her niece. She smiled and hugged her, allowing the little girl to run off towards the train…

Alexander pushed Sirius towards her, causing him to slightly trip and lunge towards her. He caught himself before he crashed into her and brushed himself off. The LeStranges quickly scurried through the barrier, with Alexander giving Sirius a wink.

"Amelia… It's been a long time." Sirius started, "I hear you're the Director of the DMLE now. Impressive."

"You would know if you wouldn't nap during the Wizengamot meetings. I was appointed last month…" She replied smiling before looking at her feet again, "I'm not the only one who notices you dozing off…" She giggled at her last statement while Sirius smirked.

"I've always been one to skirt around my duty…"

"Have you been getting my Christmas presents?" Amelia asked, looking into his eyes, hoping he had.

Sirius smiled as he revealed his wand holster and wand, "It's the best present I've received." Amelia looked at his holster and ran her hand down the wand and onto his faded tattoo. She ripped her eyes from it and smiled sorrowfully at him.

"I'm sorry about what happened Amelia… Your parents… Your brother and sister-in-law, I should have been there for you, but I was too caught up in the war and everything." Sirius sadly said…

"It's okay, Sirius. Really. I've thought about it a lot since then and it wasn't your fault. I would have done the same in your position." She replied, "Say, would you like to get some lunch? We can talk about it there…"

"Okay, sounds good." Sirius responded as he gestured towards to barrier, "After you…"


	7. The One With the Train Ride

**A/N: Some of the reviewers have brought up the fact that Cornelius Fudge was not Minister in 1985, which is correct in canon. I am not going to reveal what caused this divergence, however I can assure you all that I am aware of this.**

 **I would like to say that, as the story progresses, the Wizarding World is going to get darker and more realistic. The line between the "good" and "bad" characters will become blurred with questionable choices being made by everyone.**

 **Also, I know my updates are slow, but the story is most definitely not dead. I work on it when I have time!**

 _ **Chapter 7: A Marauder's Choice – Operation: Train rides and Old Memories**_

 **September 1** **st** **, 1991 – Hogwarts Express**

"So Harry comes barreling into my Dad, slamming into him while he waits for me to catch up near the barrier to the Platform!" James said as they walked down corridor after just getting on the Hogwarts Express. The Express at this point was getting more and more busy with students making their way along it trying to find an open compartment. Luckily, the three boys were able to slid into one and claim it before several 4th year Gryffindors (?) could get it, earning them some sneers and angry comments about first years. The boys just smiled sweetly and took their seats and stowing their trunks in the overhead holders.

Sebastian sat next to the window, which Harry sitting opposite him and James sitting next to Harry. As they waited for the train depart, Sebastian looked at his watch, "It's 10:50! Where are the girls and Draco?" He didn't have time to wait for a response as the door was thrown open revealing a disheveled Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis.

"What happened to you guys?" Harry asked as he looked at the girl's frizzy hair and ruffled clothing. Daphne shot him an angry look before throwing her featherlight trunk at him.

"What do you mean, 'What happened to you guys'?! You were supposed to floo call me to get up you bastard! Me and Tracey were having a sleepover and we just got up twenty minutes ago! That's what happened!" Daphne fumed, angrily sitting down next to Sebastian, causing the boy to shift closer to the window, "I swear Harry, you are the most forgetful dunderhead in all of Scotland!"

"Daphne, we are in England." Sebastian commented, not knowing his innocent statement would send Daphne off on another rant.

"Me and Harry live in Scotland you idiot! We only live a short distance from Hogwarts but I have to floo all the way down here to waste eight hours on a useless train ride! Sometimes, I hate you Nott."

Sebastian just raised his hands in surrender before pulling a book out of his bag and putting in earplugs. As Daphne continued ranting about the injustice of being an eleven-year-old girl, the door was thrown open once again, revealing Draco with his bodyguards Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe.

"Merlin, Daph. I can hear you all the way down the train. Be quiet before a prefect comes!" Draco said and Daphne's eyes went wide before she finally shut her mouth giving the boys and Tracey a momentary reprieve.

"Draco, who are the lackeys?" James asked as he pulled out his two-way mirror he had gotten from Astoria on his birthday. Astoria had said that if she can't come to Hogwarts this year, she still wanted to talk to him every day. So, she had bought an expensive two-way mirror for him to take to Hogwarts.

Draco looked at the two boys flanking him, "This is Crabbe and Goyle. They are the sons of a couple of my dad's friends." He replied to James' question before turning to the boys, "But as this compartment can only hold six, you guys need to find Blaise or someone else to sit by." The dunderheads just nodded and lumbered off towards a different area of the train. To be honest, the compartment could have probably held the two dunderheads, but it's not like they needed to know that.

"They look intelligent. Please don't tell me they will be Slytherins…" James said sarcastically as he flipped around the mirror trying to figure out how it worked. When he flipped it backwards, Daphne snatched it from him and told him how to work it, obviously annoyed with him.

"Probably. We don't have to hang out with them. They can just follow us around and scare people." Draco laughed with the other kids. He then threw his trunk in the overhead compartment like everyone else had done and sat next to Daphne.

They talked for a minute before a buzz was heard from the train and a silky-smooth voice came over the 'intercom', which amazed the group of first years, "Welcome to the Hogwarts Express everyone! This is Jonathan, your friendly wizarding conductor up here in the engine room. Today, our trip is a nice ride from King's Cross Station to Hogsmeade Station in Scotland. We will be leaving the station in approximately 2 and three quarters minutes. Our cruising altitude will be 0 feet off the ground as this is a train. Our maximum speed today will be an astonishing, I don't know, we don't have a speed gauge up here because MAGIC! At least, that's what I'm being told… Our journey today is going to take around eight hours, give or take some based on our speed. The Hogwarts Prefects will be patrolling the train making sure you are all safe and having fun! If you have any questions, please direct them to the prefects. And as always, don't do anything that your parents would be ashamed of."

The kids just looked at each other before bursting out laughing at the antics of the conductor. This was going to be a fun train ride…

 **September 1** **st** **, 1991 – J &L's Garden**

"Table for two please, near the windows, will you dearie?" Sirius said as he winked at the hostess as the young witch blushed and ushered them to the reserved table in the front of the restaurant.

"Sirius, did you really just take me to the restaurant the Potter's own? Real smooth. Plus, I don't even like Italian food…" Amelia laughed as Sirius pulled out the chair for her. She quietly sat and fixed her blouse and skirt causing Sirius to smile. She always fixed her skirt when she was nervous…

"They have other stuff Amelia! Plus, they always have this table reserved for me and Harry so it was an obvious choice!" Sirius replied, handing her a menu that he had received, "Look, first page: 'Fish and Chips'. Harry gets that all the time. That and Mac and Cheese."

"I am not a child Sirius, I don't need the kids menu." Amelia laughed, handing him back the menu before grabbing the adult menu. As they sat and chose their lunch foods, they spoke about their lives over the past few years. Sirius having gained prominence in the Wizarding Legislative body and Amelia in the Ministry itself. She talked about the Aurors now in her employ and spoke of the corruption surrounding everything in the Ministry.

"Amelia, it's not my fault that Lord Malfoy has the Minister in his pocket…" Sirius said, smiling up from his tea causing her to give him an annoyed glare.

"But it's your coalition that buys everybody! I bet that you have given money to half the department heads." Amelia said as she pulled another scoop of Spaghetti into her mouth, "Okay, this isn't that bad…"

Sirius looked at her as she had finished chewing, "I told you that Lily had a beast Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe! Anyway, I resent that you think I own half the department heads. I have only given money to three…"

"Three too many!" Amelia raged as she broke a breadstick in half and handed half to Sirius, "I'm the Head of the DMLE and I am sitting across from someone who bribes officials… To clarify, you are not bribing me with this lunch. Expect nothing from this politically."

"I didn't expect anything from you Amelia," Sirius sighed as he spoke, "I would never expect you to compromise yourself like that." He smiled sweetly at her as she looked up from her lunch into his eyes. They sat quietly for a moment, staring into each other's eyes before Sirius looked away and continued, "Amelia, about that night…"

Amelia reached across the table and grabbed his hands, holding onto them as they had many years ago, "Sirius… There was nothing you could have down. I realize that now…" Tears slowly crept into her eyes and she remembered that night many years ago… She could remember it just like if it was a pensieve memory.

 _ **Flashback – 10 years earlier**_

 _Laughter filled Potter Manor as Amelia and Sirius played with the little Harry in the living room. James and Lily had said they needed a babysitter as they were going out for the night, so Sirius and Amelia had volunteered. Sirius was running around with Harry above his head like the little baby was on a broom and Amelia was laughing on the couch…_

 _As they laughed, the Floo flared to life, admitting a slightly disheveled looking Lily Potter. She had on her darker evening dress that she had decided to wear, but it was torn above the left arm. "Amelia! There has been an attack! Rogue Death Eaters have attacked the Bones Manor! Me and James apparated there as soon as we heard, but there was nothing left. James is looking through the rubble right now, but he hasn't found anything…"_

 _Amelia put on her serious Auror face and concealed the pain that she was feeling. Sirius just stared at Lily in utter shock, "What do you mean? Did You-Know-Who order the attack?" He asked, still surprised by the sudden attack. They had not heard of any sort of attack coming, so he was right to be confused. Amelia shot a look at Sirius, obviously surprised by his question. Clearly He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named ordered it!_

" _When me and James arrived the Death Eaters apparated away but not before flinging some curses at us. We tried to get inside and save your brother and sister-in-law, but they had put up some powerful wards. James had to call in help to rip them down. Do you know if they had a saferoom or something?" Lily asked as Sirius made his way over and began treating her injured arm._

 _Amelia stood in shock, trying to think of anything that might be of help. "John said that there was a small warded room on the first floor that they would put Susan in if they came under attack. Maybe they put her there?"_

 _Lily winced as Sirius pulled a small hot piece of metal out of her arm, obviously having been transfigured to maim her. "Sirius, it feels like its burning…" Lily said, trying not to cry from the pain._

" _Don't worry Lily, I'll go." Sirius turned to Amelia and brought her into a hug, "You head to the Manor, I'll be over in a second. I'm going to put Lily and Harry in bed." Amelia nodded absentmindedly and apparated to the outskirts of Bones Manor. She ran to the gates and threw them open, revealing an angry looking James Potter sifting through the rubble._

" _James! The front room is over here! There is a saferoom near the fireplace, I think Susan might be in there…" Amelia called as she began lifting up piece after piece of broken and charred house. It only took a moment for her and James to reach the saferoom and discover a crying Susan Bones…_

 _It took Sirius two hours to arrive, after all the Aurors and the like had been there to collect statements…_

" _What took you so long! My Brother and Sister-in-law are dead and you said you would be here!" Amelia screamed at him, getting the attention of James and some of the Aurors. James waved the wizarding police off and made his way over to attempt to mediate._

" _Amelia, I'm sorry! I got held up!" Sirius tried to explain while trying to bring her in for a hug only to be rebuffed._

" _You got 'held up'? On the worst night of my life, you get held up putting a baby and adult to sleep?" Amelia continued to rage, bringing her wand up and leveling it at Sirius._

" _I had to make sure the wards were secure! If your family was attacked, what's to say Potter Manor won't be next? With Rogue Death Eaters running around, nobody is safe!" Sirius yelled, "You just don't understand Amelia!"_

" _How about you just leave, Sirius! You are never here when I need you anyway! Always off on missions or something!"_

 _Sirius knew that trying to reason with an angry and hurt Amelia Bones wasn't going to help him. He turned on his heel and apparated away, leaving Amelia to fall to the ground and sob._

 **September 1** **st** **, 1991 – J &L's Garden**

"What I didn't understand was why you never tried to contact me after that!", Amelia said as she slightly raised her voice, "Sirius, I loved you and you left! Disappeared when I needed you the most! Harry and Susan could have grown up together!"

"Amelia… I would be lying if it wasn't hard on me too. I… I thought by leaving, the rogue Death Eaters would leave you be! We captured them of course, but I just didn't know what to do at that point! I thought I had mucked it up beyond all return!"

"Sirius, I never stopped loving you… Even when I saw you taking Harry to the Ministry events and you coming to the Wizengamot meetings, I still loved you." She smiled sadly at her former boyfriend, "To be honest, I though you would figure out AB before now… But you were always dense." Sirius chuckled.

"Well, I'm here now, Amelia…" Sirius replied, searching her eyes for any sort of hope.

"What? You think you can just pop back into my life after ten years, talk for a little bit with me, and we can get back together!" She started to raise her voice again but paused, "I had this big speech prepared about how you were a horrible person to just up and leave and everything, but… oh screw it, kiss me you idiot."

 **September 1** **st** **, 1991 – Hogwarts Express**

"Excuse me, do you mind? Everywhere else is full." A red-haired boy said as he appeared in the doorway to Harry Potter and his friend's compartment. When he finally looked up and spotted the sneering first years, he spoke, "Oh, it's you lot. Bloody hell." The boy slammed the door shut which cause the eleven-year-olds to look at each other in confusion the burst into fits of laughter.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and looked questioningly at Harry and Draco. Daphne noticed this and decided to supply the answer for him, "Harry and Draco met 'Ronald Weasley' in the bookstore the other day. Shall I just say that Ronald ended up with a face as red as his hair." The others in the group didn't need much more information before they started laughing again.

"You should have seen him, Tracey!" Draco snorted, "He pulled out his wand like he was going to curse Harry and me! His mother called him back before we could use some of our really nasty curses though!" He smirked evilly with Sebastian and James looked un-impressed.

"Yeah, you guys and your body-bind 'curse'. Really sticking it to the blood traitor…" James said as he rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"I'll have you know, my Dad has told me all kinds of curses and hexes." Draco muttered to James as the compartment slid open once more to reveal a bushy haired first year.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one." She asked before spotting Harry, "Oh, hi Harry. It's good to see you again, as well as you James." She smiled at the two boys before entering, uninvited.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Draco asked, eyeing the witch suspiciously, "I didn't think mud, *Harry arched an eyebrow at him*, I mean, muggleborns wanted to sit with us pure-bloods."

"Harry's not a pure-blood, I read it in one of my books!" Hermione said as she began rummaging through her bag, looking for the book, "I remember it was written by your Godfather, Sirius Black? It talks about how your parents were killed by the Dark Lord!"

"Well, that book was written before my Dad blood-adopted me into the Black family, making me a de facto pure-blood." Harry supplied, "My name is technically Harry James Potter-Black".

"Oh, well your father should release a new version of this book!" Hermione huffed before shoving her newly found book back into her bag, "Having accurate textbooks is important, you know?" she said as she stood to exit, "I guess I'll see you all when we are sorted".

"Mental, that one", James said as she closed to door to rejoin the hunt for Neville's toad, "Also, who would bring a toad to Hogwarts. A toad can't bring you mail…"

The rest of trip seemed to zoom by for the group of six as the talked at length about what awaited them at Hogwarts. Harry was mostly excited for the Quidditch matches with Draco and Tracey agreeing. Daphne was interested in Potions and learning more about what her Dad does. Sebastian ranted about how Defense Against the Dark Arts should have been left as just the Dark Arts class. It basically taught the same information plus more curses that would be useful if a magical got into a fight. James was oblivious to the whole conversation that accompanied most of the train ride. Astoria had kept him talking on their mirrors for several hours, even though he kept saying he needed to go.

As the train finished its journey and pulled into the station, the kids crowded around the window looking out onto the train platform and the lake beyond. As they watched, a large man with a lantern began yelling something they couldn't hear from inside. "Alright, let's get our stuff and get off this bloody train!" Harry proclaimed as he yanked his featherweight trunk from the luggage rack.

"Right, then! First years! This way, please! Come on, now, don't be shy! Come on now, hurry up!" The large man yelled as the group made their way off and onto the platform. A large group of first-years soon clustered around the man and he began to lead them away once he was satisfied that there were no stragglers, "Right then. This way to the boats! Come on, now, follow me."

As Harry made his way to the awaiting boats, he noticed that the boats were small, fitting no more than a few students. "Come on then! Only four to a boat! Get in!" Harry looked at his friends before they split up, with James, Draco, and Sebastian hoping in a boat while Daphne, Tracey, and Harry got into the other. Before they could push off from shore, the know it all Hermione clambered into Harry's boat. Ron attempted to get in the other boat, however some hateful stares soon changed his mind.

They pushed off from shore and the boats seemed to pilot themselves towards the large castle in the distance. Several students gasped as they neared, yet Harry noticed Daphne and Tracey look almost bored. Hermione looked completely dumbstruck, "This is so much different from the pictures in the books!"

Soon they made their way into the castle and up the stairs, only to be stopped by Professor McGonagall, "Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you can take your seats you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Now, while you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you house points. Any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup…" she paused as a boy jumped forward to grab a toad by her feet, Harry surmised that must be Neville and his toad. Not that he hadn't met Neville before at Ministry events, but Neville just wasn't one of Harry's friends. The Professor looked at the boy for a moment before finishing, "The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily".

She walked into the Hall before closing the doors behind her. As she left, several ghosts appeared, announcing which house they represented and giving the first year's support and saying they hope they end up in their respective houses. "I wonder what house I'll be sorted into", Harry heard a quiet voice behind him say. He turned to find Hermione, who had obviously been following Harry and his friends.

"I would say you'll be sorted into Ravenclaw. You love books so I could see that working well for you." Harry said, slightly snidely. Lucky for Hermione, she didn't pick up on the malice.

"Professor McGonagall said that all houses have their merits," she replied, "What house do you think you will be sorted into, Harry?"

Draco spoke up for him as a red-haired boy glared at the exchange, "Slytherin, obviously. That's where all the best wizards go!" He declared proudly, earning him several snorts from first years who had older siblings.

"Slytherin is full of dark wizards and evil people," Ron declared, also earning a laugh from Harry and his group.

A moment later, Professor McGonagall returned through the Great Halls doors, "We're ready for you now". She led them through the doors, into a giant room with four long tables filled with other students. Harry looked around the room in wonder, taking in the beautiful sight that was the night sky as well as the floating candles.

Hermione noticed his wondrous expression, "It's not real, the ceiling. It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History". That statement earned her two equally annoyed eye rolls from Daphne and Tracey. _What a know-it-all…_ Daphne thought as they finally stopped before the head table.

"All right, will you wait along here, please? Now, before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words." Professor McGonagall said to the assembled first-years before making her way up to stand next to the sorting hat.

The Headmaster stood, "I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce: first years, please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that the 3rd floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you." The old man sat as Harry and Draco looked at each other in surprise. That 3rd floor corridor obviously must be searched.

"When I call your name, you will come forth, I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Hannah Abbot"

"Oh Merlin," Sebastian said as he stared at the blonde who had just sat down on the stool, "This is going to take forever."

It was a few minutes before someone Harry actually cared about was called up to be sorted. "Tracey Davis". Harry perked up as the dark brown-haired witch made her way to the stool. As McGonagall placed the hat on Tracey's head, her face showed surprise. It took the hat about 30 seconds to make up his mind, but Harry smiled as it yelled out, "SLYTHERIN!" Harry clapped as she hopped off to the table where she was welcomed.

There were some more sortings that Harry really didn't care about before "Hermione Granger" was called. She walked up to the hat and sat down confidently. It took another 20 seconds before the hat confirmed what Harry had suspected, "RAVENCLAW!" She looked slightly put out before smiling at her new housemates.

"Daphne Greengrass" was called quickly after Hermione. As she approached, the hat seemed to sneer at her before screeching out 'SLYTHERIN' the moment it was over her head. She smiled smugly at Harry before bouncing off to join Draco.

There were several other sortings, with some students Harry couldn't care less about. Not that he didn't pay attention to see where the students of his year ended up, he just didn't have any thoughts about why they went to certain houses.

"James LeStrange"! Professor McGonagall bellowed as she eyed the first years. Several of the Professor's eyes widened at the mention of the LeStrange last name. James just smirked evilly as he approached and sat on the stool. There were some whispers behind him, questioning who his parents were. Harry could barely make out Professor Sprout ask another if he was the spawn of Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange. Harry laughed as the hat once again shouted SLYTHERIN.

As James made his way over to the table, a non-descript Slytherin fifth year shouted, "Merlin, get on with it then! You're boring me!" Harry again chuckled as most of the Great Hall did.

"Ten points from Slytherin."

"Worth it."

"As I was saying, Neville Longbottom", Professor McGonagall continued while still glaring at the fifth year. The shy boy approached the stool with his toad clutched in his hands which got him several odd looks from the Head table as well as the students. McGonagall placed the sorting hat onto his hat and seemed to have a lively discussion with the boy before yelling, "GRYFFINDOR!" The boy jumped off the stood and rushed to join his new house.

"Draco Malfoy", she continued.

Draco smiled at Harry when his name was called, "I bet you it will take less than five seconds" he said to which Harry rolled his eyes. That was a fool's wager. Draco strode confidently towards the professor and the hat. As he sat and the hat was hovered over his head, the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN". He smiled smugly at Harry and mouthed, 'Told you'.

"Sebastian Nott", Harry nudged the boy forward and smiled. Sebastian took his time reaching the seat but was soon sent to Slytherin like the rest of his friends.

Harry heard a laugh from behind him as Sebastian was sent to Slytherin, "Of course he went to Slytherin, there isn't a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin". Harry turned to see the red-haired Weasley boy smirking. But before Harry could do anything, he was called up to be sorted. There were several gasps and wide eyes around the room, obviously from those who did not know Harry would be attending this year.

" _Ah, Mr. Potter. Or should I say, Potter-Black?"_ The hat said inside Harry's mind as McGonagall placed it onto his head, _"I see you have already made up your mind for Slytherin, yes? All your friends are there… Nott, Malfoy, LeStrange… Ah yes, I am forgetting Miss Davis and Greengrass… Oh Harry? I feel that you have more than mere friendship feelings for her. *_ Harry shifted uncomfortably* _Don't worry Mister Potter-Black, my hat is sealed! Anyway, I expect great things from you, Harry. At Hogwarts and beyond…_ SLYTHERIN"

Harry smiled as his friends burst up from their seats and clapped enthusiastically for him. Several of the other Slytherins looked confused but slowly they all began clapping.

The rest of the feast passed quickly for Harry as he ignored the rest of the sortings. He did, however, boo Weasley after he was sorted. As they began to tuck in to eat, Harry looked up towards the head table to view his soon to be Professors. "Hey, James. Who is the guy sitting next to Professor Quirrell? Dad mentioned something about him but I don't remember his name…"

"Oh, that's Professor Snape. Your Dad almost killed him the night your parents were killed. He was found by Headmaster Dumbledore with half his head caved in. Sirius has a nasty bone-crushing curse…" James said as he looked towards the greasy Professor. Harry continued to look at James for more information however, "He teaches Potions, Harry." Daphne finished for James.

"Who is Slytherin's Professor?" Draco asked, having not bothered to ask his Dad who it was before coming.

"Professor Vector, Draco", Sebastian supplied as he slowly ate his food, "I swear, sometimes one would think you didn't live with Lucius Malfoy for the amount of simple question you ask."

 **September 1** **st** **, 1991 – Dungeons**

Harry, Draco, Daphne, Sebastian, Tracey, James, and the rest of the Slytherin first years followed the Slytherin fifth year prefects down the long winding hallways of Hogwarts to the Slytherin dormitories. As they descended the stairs, the atmosphere began to feel much heavier and almost suffocating before they reached the hallway directly in front of the Slytherin dormitory.

"Okay, welcome to the Slytherin Dormitories. As you can see, all of you made it past Slytherin's door defenses. If you were not truly Slytherins, you would have collapsed due to suffocation before you made it here," the fifth year smirked before motioning to the non-descript wall behind him and pulling his wand, "The door to the common room is visible only to those who wear Slytherin robes."

He waved his wand over the newly minted Slytherins and their Hogwarts sigils were changed to their House's sigil. Suddenly, their blindness seemed to be lifted as an ornate silver and green door revealed itself to them as the female Fifth year started, "The password is 'S _emper Pura'_ or 'Always Pure' in English. Please use the Latin version as it makes us look cool, but English will work as well".

Harry and James looked at each other in utter disbelief, _I didn't realize magic could do this stuff,_ thought Harry as they pushed forward into the common room. As they entered, Daphne could be heard gasping with a small, "Wow."

"Yeah, pretty amazing isn't it?", the prefect said as he lined up the first years to give them the annual Slytherin speech, "You lot's parents gave the school a hefty sum of money a few years ago after Lord Malfoy saw that the Common Room and Dormitories had not been updated in almost 75 years."

The Common Room was ornately decorated with gold, silver, and all types of different stone. Several black leather couches, chairs, and seats were spread out across the room with plenty of desks and tables to study on. A beautiful gold/silver chandelier was hung in the center of the room with floating candles surrounding it. Gone were the drab green wallpaper that Daphne had seen in her father's pictures, replaced with dark woods and stunning artwork. As she looked above she noticed a shadowy figure move across the ceiling, making her realize they were under the Black Lake.

"Okay, listen up first years!" the female Prefect shouted from her perch on the stairs, "Boy's dormitories are up the stairs and girl's dorms are down. Each of you will have your own room with a bed, desk, and wardrobe thanks to the remodel a couple years ago and enlargement charms. Be aware that visiting hours are between 9am and 8pm. That means boys can be in the girl's dorms and vis versa during those times. You also will each have an attached bathroom to your rooms."

She looked to her male companion who continued, "House elves will take care of all laundry, cleaning, and pickup overnight. Even though we have house elves, that does not mean you can leave your room a mess all the time, please clean up after yourselves," He paused, looking at the notebook he was holding, which earned him an eye roll from the other Prefect, "Breakfast is served from 7:30am to 8:30am with first period beginning at 9:00am. Lunch is served at 12:00pm until 1:00pm. Dinner is served at 6:00pm. You will receive your class schedules tomorrow at breakfast. Do be there for that. Breakfast is optional the rest of the term. Now, I will be turning it over the Professor Vector…"

He motioned to the mysterious figure in the corner of the room, "Welcome to Slytherin, my children. This is the first step in your journey to becoming _POWERFUL_ witches and wizards." She drawled as she removed her hood and looked around the room, "I know many of your parents, and I even knew the one that gave me this," she lifted up her left sleeve, revealing a faded black tattoo covering a snake-like scar before snorting and pushing her sleeve back down, "Slytherin will be your family. From this day until your end of days. Take that to heart, my children. Look around you, they will be your best friends. You may have friends in other years, however these will be your core friends. Never let anything or anyone tear you apart, which I am sure the other Houses will attempt to do… Anything to put Slytherin down…" she snarled as she looked at Harry, James, and Draco.

"I sense you three will accomplish great things, terrible… But great." She smiled wickedly before noticing the girls and Sebastian, "Do not worry, you all will be there with them. I trust you all will succeed in Slytherin. Now, there is one professor that will cause you all trouble, Professor Severus Snape. He is the Potions professor." She shifted her eyes quickly to Harry and running her index figure against his scar, "Your father almost killed him that night, didn't he? Eh, Mr. Potter-Black? Answer when spoken to!"

"Yes, ma'am. He caved in Professor Snape's skull with a bone-crushing curse." Harry responded swiftly, "Why do you ask?"

"I could tell by the magical signature you have. Snape has a very similar residual signature around his head. Only a Black could have such a similar signature," she shifted her attention to the other students, "Remember that Slytherins are loyal to other Slytherins. You will need each other when the other three houses decide you are evil. Also, the common room is confidential. Anything spoken in the room, stays in the room, right?"

The Prefects nodded in the affirmative as she continued he review of the first years, "Daphne Greengrass, I remember your father was an accomplished Potions Master during the War, yes?"

"My father doesn't like to talk about the Blood War, ma'am. So, I don't really know what he did." Daphne replied meekly, sort of scared by the older woman.

"Of course not, he plead the Imperious. Much like Lord Malfoy, Lord Davis, and Lord Crabbe," She eyed the three students with a sly smile before turning to James, "I am surprised you were let in, young man. Your Surname is seen as the Plague in Wizarding England."

"Well, I'm glad my father runs his business out of France, oui?" James smirked.

Professor Vector smiled at the group before nodding at James, "Goodnight, my children. I will see you tomorrow." She sulked into the darkness and disappeared into her office.

"Your rooms have your names on the door. See you all bright and early tomorrow."


	8. The One With the Cerberus

_**A/N: Wow. Two chapters in one month? I guess y'all should be happy! Always great getting reviews and whatnot so keep it up!**_

 **** **AN2: As a reviewer rightfully pointed out, I accidentally said that Hermione (a Ravenclaw) was in a class that was only Slytherin and Gryffindor. I have edited accordingly.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 8: A Marauder's Choice – Operation:**_ ** _I Don't Miss Sirius THAT Much_**

 **September 1** **st** **, 1991 – Unknown Location**

The fires of a floo flared as masked figure strode into the main entryway of a manor somewhere in the countryside of Britain. It was late evening, about when the children would be having their first beginning of the year feast at Hogwarts. The sun had set a while ago with the only light in the room coming from the massive chandelier that hung from the tall ceiling and several candles floating in air.

As the figures' eyes adjusted to the dim room, a voice hissed through the silence, "Ahhhh. We are joined by the usurper. I haven't seen you in many years, my friend…" The figure finally began to see the outline of several darkly robed figures standing at the far end of the room.

"My Lord? Your arrival here is a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one." He retorted to the masked figure as he made his way to the group. Several of the assembled figures nodded in agreement with his assessment, "How have you returned to us?"

"Professor Quirrell was kind enough to offer himself to me in service," the hooded figure removed his hood revealing the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a deformed face of You-Know-Who adorning the back of his head, "Quirinus is in a perfect position to acquire the necessary artifact to bring me back to my full power!"

"I look forward to joining you once again, my Lord."

 **September 2** **nd** **, 1991 – Slytherin Dorms**

"Where are the little pests? I told them they needed to be down here at 7:15am to be escorted to the Great Hall for Breakfast", the female Slytherin Prefect said as she tapped her foot angrily against the floor in the Common Room.

"You did not. I said breakfast is served at 7:30. You didn't say anything about being down here at 7:15." The other fifth year retorted ask he walked down the stairs into the Common Room, "If you want them down here, you should go get them?"

"Maybe I will."

 _ **First Year – Boy's Dorms**_

Loud banging on his door shook James out of his slumber. He rubbed his eyes as his fingers fumbled around on his nightstand, searching for his wand. A muffled _"Lumos"_ was heard by Harry as he continued knocking on James' door.

"What? It has to be like three in the morning. The sun isn't out yet…" James said as he quickly pulled his room door open, revealing Harry, Draco, and Sebastian in their school robes, "Why are you guys already dressed?"

"It's 7:15, James. We are supposed to be downstairs at 7:30…" Sebastian said as he looked the tired eleven-year-old up and down, "You are obviously not ready for your day."

"Really?" James asked before his situation finally dawned on him, "AHHHH. Guys, help! I have to shower!" He ran off to his bathroom as the three other boys entered his room to pack up his stuff. They quickly grabbed his books and shoved them into his _LeStrange_ satchel that his father had gifted him for school. It had been his grandfather's, one of the first Death Eaters of You-Know-Who. The satchel had plenty of _interesting_ spells attached to it, some enlargement charms with many dangerous spells woven into the more secure compartments.

"JAMES! Your books are in your bag! Meet you downstairs!" Draco called as the boys exited the room, not wanted to make them all late, "That is the only time I help James get up. He needs to set an alarm! Or, at least, tell the Slytherin House elves they need to wake him up at a certain time…"

"Wait, you can do that?" Harry asked as they descended the stairs to the Common Room, "I'll have to remember that. I just used my enchanted alarm clock."

"Aren't those illegal? Misuse of muggle artifacts or whatever?" Daphne said as they met the boys at the landing of the stairs.

"I mean, technically. But they are sold at a store in Diagon Alley so they can't be THAT illegal…" Harry responded, knowing that even if they were illegal, Sirius wasn't about to let him sleep through his classes.

"Whatever is illegal, I don't want to know about it." The male prefect said as he saw the gaggle of children coming from the stairs. He began to count them, ensuring the correct number of children had come out of the dorms. There were already dozens a Slytherin's leaving the dorms for breakfast as James burst down the stairs and tripped into Tracey, who blushed as he dusted himself off. He nodded to her in apology before joining his male counterparts. A side eye from the female prefect told him that he was late but they didn't say anything.

"Good morning, first years. As you can tell, breakfast is pretty popular in Slytherin. I encourage you to attend if you are able. Food is important for your health. Anyway, today you will be receiving your timetables at breakfast like we said. Prefects will be around ten minutes before and ten minutes after classes start for the first week to help you if you get lost. Feel free to approach a prefect from any House if you can't find us. However, I don't believe you will have much trouble finding your classes as you all have the same timetables."

"Plus, we have the maps…" Harry whispered to James as the prefects spoke, which caused James to snicker in excitement. The male prefect raised his eyebrows at this but quickly signaled to listen to the other prefect.

"Lastly, please be aware that Quidditch Team selection is on September 11th. First-years are allowed to try-out; however, you will have to use a Slytherin House broom during selection. After that, Professor Vector will issue you an exception to bring your own broom. Any questions?"

The small hand of Daphne raised as she smiled softly at the two prefects, "I'm sorry, but what are your names? I don't think you ever said…"

"Oh, we didn't?" the male asked, "My apologizes. I am Edmund Speirs, but everyone just calls Speirs. This is Gemma." He said as he pointed to his female counterpart, "I call her Gem, but she doesn't like that so just go with Gemma." He smiled sweetly as Gemma rolled her eyes, "Well, now that that's out of the way. Time for breakfast!"

 **September 2** **nd** **, 1991 – Great Hall**

The Slytherin first years took their seats at the end of the table as Professor Vector made her way down the table, handing each individual student their timetable. Her appearance and demeanor noticeably different than the previous night's. She was laughing and asking how each of their summers were and what her students did. Her creepy hood from the previous night was replaced by an elegant professor's dress with deep red inlays. As she finally reached Harry and his class, she smiled sweetly, "Good morning, my children! I hope you all slept well and are ready for the day!" she said cheerfully, handing Harry his timetable, "All of your classes will be together, feel free to let me know if you have any problems!"

Harry looked at his schedule and smiled,

First Years:  
 **Monday and Wednesdays:**  
Breakfast: 7:30am-8:30am

1st class: 9:00am-10:20am  
History of Magic – Professor Binns: Slytherin and Hufflepuff

2nd class: 10:30am-11:50am  
Potions – Professor Snape: Slytherin and Gryffindor

Lunch: 12:00pm-1:00pm

3rd classes: 1:10pm-2:30pm  
Defense Against the Dark Arts – Professor Quirrell: Slytherin and Ravenclaw

4th classes: 2:40pm-4:00pm  
Transfiguration – Professor McGonagall: Slytherin and Gryffindor

Classes end: 4:00pm-6:00pm  
Dinner: 6:00pm-8:00pm (come and go, dinner served entire time)  
Curfew: 9:00pm  
All Students are to be in their own common room

 **Tuesdays and Thursdays:**  
Breakfast- 7:30am-8:30am

1st: 9:00am-10:20am  
Charms – Professor Flitwick: Slytherin and Gryffindor

2nd- 10:30am-11:50am  
Herbology – Professor Sprout: Slytherin and Ravenclaw

Lunch: 12:00pm-1:00pm  
Free Time: 1:00pm-6:00pm  
Dinner: 6:00pm-8:00pm (come and go, dinner served entire time)  
Curfew: 9:00pm

Astronomy-12:00am-1:00am  
Ravenclaw and Slytherin (Tuesdays)

 **Fridays:**  
Breakfast: 7:30am-8:30am

1st: 9:00am-10:20am  
Flying – Madame Hooch: All First Years

2nd: 10:30am-11:50am  
Magical Customs and Traditions – Professor Nott: Gryffindor and Slytherin

Lunch: 12:00pm-1:00pm  
Free Time: 1:00pm-6:00pm  
Dinner: 6:00pm-8:00pm (come and go, dinner served entire time)  
Curfew: 9:00pm

"Sweet! We got Binns first class on Mondays! Dad says his lectures are entirely on the Goblin Rebellions and he is literally dead! Easy O!" James said excitedly as he looked over his schedule, "Wait, since when is there a 'Magical Customs and Traditions' class? Sebastian's dad is teaching it!" All of the other first years looked at Sebastian for a response once they heard James' revelation.

"What? It's new this year. It was passed in the Wizengamot this summer. Hogwarts has to offer a course to all students this term to teach all students about Wizarding Customs and Traditions, as the name implies. After this year, they only have to offer it to the first years. My dad says it will be easy for us. Not so much for mud… muggleborns." He smiled slightly as he looked up from his book and breakfast.

"Awesome, easy Fridays then!" Draco said, "Did your dad say we HAD to go?" Daphne and Harry rolled their eyes at this question while Draco and James seemed to be very interested in the answer. If they didn't have to attend a class, then that's just more free time.

"I mean, it IS a class guys. I'm sure Lord Nott will make it interesting. I mean, we should at least go to make the Gryffindors angry." Tracey responded as Sebastian nodded in agreement. James and Draco looked slightly put out but Harry suspected they would recover. They finished their food and talked about their first night in the castle before the Prefects informed them that class would begin in fifteen minutes.

The Slytherin first years made their way through the winding hallways towards their first class of the day, History of Magic. They talked amongst themselves, following Gemma and Speirs to the classroom, "Alright, we will be here at 10:20 to take you all to your next class. Have fun with Binns!" Speirs said as he motioned for them to enter the room. As the students entered, the room seemed to enlarge and become grander than the small door indicated. The walls were adorned with hundreds of magical artifacts, maps, and artwork. At the front of the classroom was positioned a grey, translucent ghost of Professor Binns.

"Welcome to my classroom, First-Years. It is a pleasure to see you this year. As we begin, I will be passing out a course schedule that says when every paper and test is due…"

 **September 2** **nd** **, 1991 – Later**

"Okay, you were right, James. That class did suck." Daphne said as they exited the History of Magic classroom to the waiting Prefects. She looked up at the two fifth years, "I have no idea how you stay awake in that class."

"Generally, Miss Greengrass, we don't. At this point, we have heard the same lectures five times that we do self-study during that class. If you study the book, you will pass your O.W.L.s. Only study the lectures for his tests." Gemma said as she imparted her advice onto the small children, "Okay, onto Potions. My least favorite class."

Once again, the student found themselves zigzagging through the corridors to the dungeons. As they neared the classroom, Edward spoke, "Okay, this class is with Professor Snape. I have heard he has a particular grudge against your parents so tread carefully." He then motioned for the kids to enter the classroom.

The Slytherins waited for a moment before the Gryffindor Prefects arrived and deposited their first-years as well. As Harry watched the Gryffindors enter, the red-headed Weasel locked eyes with him and sneered. Harry rolled his eyes and continued to prepare for the class.

Suddenly, the door to the classroom slammed open and a man clad in a dark robe rushed into the room, his coat waving behind him. "There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to enjoy the subtle science and exact art that is potion making." The man said, making his way to the front of the room. He came to a stop at the front of the room and made eye contact with Harry, "Ah, the spawn of James and Lily Potter… Mr. Potter-Black is it now? I'm surprised your _father_ hasn't accidentally killed you yet. He, accidentally, caused my affliction…" Professor Snape growled at Harry, revealing his deformed skull.

He stared at Harry for a moment long before whipping his wand out and casting a Sonorus charm on Ronald Weasley, who was whispering to Seamus Finnigan in the back of the room, "His head is the shape of a potato." Ron said as he clasped his hands against his mouth.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor." Snape said, eying the boy hatefully before turning quickly to another student, "Ms. Greengrass, what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfbane?"

Daphne was surprised by the suddenness of the question but was quick to answer, "There is no difference, Sir. They are the same plant called Aconitum."

"Correct, it seems your father actually taught you something… Mr. LeStrange, where would I find a Bezoar and what are they used for?" Snape again asked, his attention shifting to the young man next to Draco and Harry.

"I would suggest the stomach of a goat, Professor. Bezoars are for stopping poisons." James said, not entirely sure if his second answer was entirely accurate.

"Correct, Mr. LeStrange. I see you received your _Mother's_ intelligence… Mr. Thomas, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Dean Thomas thought about the question for several seconds before several hands were raised by pure-blood students, Daphne being the fastest among them, "I don't know, Sir."

"Pity. Five points from Gryffindor for being unprepared for class…" Professor Snape looked around the room at the wide-eyed students, "Well, why aren't you taking notes?"

 **September 2** **nd** **, 1991 – Lunch**

"That wasn't as bad as Dad said it would be," Harry said as he stirred his pumpkin juice with a straw, "I wonder how Charms will be." As Harry spoke, there was an explosion at the Gryffindor table followed by an exasperated Seamus Finnigan huffing that his water was supposed to turn into rum, but instead exploded into his face.

"Why do we have half of our classes with Gryffindor?" Daphne asked as she ignored most of what was happening around her, "For Houses that hate each other, it's just surprising."

"I'm not really sure, it seems that the Headmaster feels it necessary to try and mean the rivalry." Sebastian responded to Daphne while looking over at the now ash covered Seamus, "What an idiot. Two galleons he loses his eyebrows by the end of this week…" James laughed, but refused the bet as he agreed the Seamus would definitely lose his brows.

"Oh sweet. Mail's here", Harry said, looking at the dozens of owls now entering the Great Hall, "I hope Dad sent me something cool!" Just as he spoke, a letter dropped from the Black Family owl with Sirius' sigil wax sealing it. Harry broke the seal and smiled at the letter he received. It was all about how Sirius already missed him and that it's too quiet around the Manor now. Plus, Sirius said that he was going to be up for the Hogwarts Board of Directors meeting in October, so he would see him then.

Draco was reading the Daily Prophet newspaper when he nudged Harry, "Hey Harry. Somebody broke into Gringotts! 'Believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown, Gringotts goblins, while acknowledging the breach, insist nothing was taken. The vault in question had, in fact been emptied earlier that very same day.' Didn't you and Uncle Sirius go to your vault that day too?"

"Yeah, we had to get some letter my parents had left for me. It's weird that Gringotts is just reporting this now though. We visited our vault like a month ago. Somebody needs to make sure the Goblins report thefts in a timely manner." Harry responded, looking at the photo of goblins inspecting the offending vault, "They must have been using an invisibility cloak or something. I have heard Gringotts has dragons guarding some of the vaults."

"Hey guys, we need to get going to DADA", Daphne said as the group had already began standing from the benches, "We don't want to be late!"

 **September 2** **nd** **, 1991 – Defense Against the Dark Arts**

The Slytherin first years sat quietly in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom as the Ravenclaw students filtered in following lunch. Harry and James were once again sitting next to each other as Professor Quirrell entered the classroom from his attached office. Professor Quirrell had seemed to be a nice guy, at least from what the older students had said.

"Hello, st-st-students. I am Professor Qu-Qu-Quirrell. You will ha-ha-have to excuse my st-t-t-t-t-utter. I enc-c-c-c-ountered a v-v-v-vampire in Romania and h-h-h-haven't been the s-s-s-same."

Harry laughed to himself as he smiled sweetly at the stuttering Professor. James leaned over and whispered, "Man, this is going to suck." Harry nodded as the Professor began his lecture about the _Protego_ Shield spell.

 **September 2** **nd** **, 1991 – Transfiguration**

Harry and James were sitting next to one another and were chatting about how excited they were to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team. As they spoke, Neville Longbottom and Ronald Weasley burst into the room after the late bell rang.

As Weasley and Longbottom made their way to one of the open seats at the front of the classroom, Ron laughed and said, "Whew! We made it, Neville! Can you imagine old McGonagall's face if we were late the first day out…"?

The cat, which was sitting on the desk of Professor McGonagall, narrowed its eyes at the boys and suddenly leapt off the desk and transformed into McGonagall herself. Draco laughed at the Gryffindor's predicament as Weasley had just called a Professor old to her face, a cat's face, but still her face.

Ron's mouth dropped in amazement and his eyes went wide at this advanced magic, "That was bloody brilliant!"

Professor McGonagall didn't seem phased by his curt language, "Thank you for that assessment, Mr. Weasley. But perhaps it might be more useful if I transfigured Mr. Longbottom or yourself into a pocket watch. That way one of you might be on time?" she asked rhetorically

Neville spoke up at that moment, trying to explain how they were late, "We got lost and couldn't find a prefect".

"Then perhaps a map? I trust you don't need one to find your seats?" McGonagall responded as she looked expectantly at the two. They slowly made their way to the open front row seats and sat with two plops.

Transfiguration is some of the most complex, dangerous, and valuable magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Use it skillfully and it may, one day, save your life. Make a mistake and you could just find yourself with a toad's head and a monkey's tail", McGonagall said as she lifted the first-year textbook from her desk draw and opened it.

"Yeah, or you could not try and transfigure yourself. That's what my Dad says all the time. He says that unless you are an Animagus, turning into an animal is kind of useless." Daphne whispered to Tracy as they flipped through their books to find the right page, "You barely have control of yourself if you fully transfigure yourself. Plus, you can't use a wand so somebody else has to transfigure you back…"

"Miss Greengrass, do you have something to tell the class?" McGonagall said as she looked up from her book.

"When will we learn about people who can turn into animals at will. Like Animagi?" Daphne responded, perking the interest of Harry and James, whose fathers were both Animagi.

"Good question, Miss Greengrass. I see you take after you father's interest in Transfiguration. You will learn about Animagi in Third Year. All right then, shall we begin class?"

 **September 2** **nd** **, 1991**

A couple hours later, the first years shuffled out of the Transfiguration classroom, a little wiser about the subject. Harry and the gang quietly talked to themselves as they made their way back down into the dungeons. As they passed through the Slytherin ward, James asked the entire group, "Well, what do we want to do until dinner?"

"I'm going to write that paper Snape assigned. I know it's not due until next week but might as well get it done." Sebastian said, not looking up from the book he was reading while walking.

"I think me and Tracey are going exploring if anybody wants to come with us? Dad said there are plenty secret passageways and cool places in the castle." Daphne spoke up as Harry nodded along and opened the hidden door to the Slytherin common room. They all shuffled in with the door rapidly closing behind them.

"I think that would be fun, Daph. Let me go get my map and we can go!" Harry said, smiling brightly at his friends. James and Draco said they would come as well, leaving behind Draco's goons, Crabbe and Goyle.

The two boys raced up the stairs and into their rooms, each grabbing their Marauder's Map and Harry grabbing his cloak just in case. Draco and the girls waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs until James and Harry slid down the banister into them. Several muttered apologies later, they made their way out of the common room and back into the castle…

 _An Hour Later…_

"Pssst. Harry!" Daphne whispered as they neared the third-floor corridor that the Headmaster has said to avoid if you didn't want to die a painful death, "Is there anybody on the third floor?"

Harry looked at his map and replied in the negative, "Come on then, let's go look!"

With Sebastian in the common room, there wasn't really any protests to the idea besides Tracey huddling up against Draco. "Get off", Draco said as he shrugged Tracey from his shoulder, "We'll be fine".

They slowly crept into the hallway, making sure that their maps were not deceiving them and looked around. As they all entered, James jumped in fright when one of the ornate torches on the wall burst into life, giving the children light. Harry and Draco snickered but stopped when Daphne shushed them. The tiptoed along the hallway to the only door that they could see.

James pulled on the door to see if it would open, but it didn't budge, "Well, looks like its locked. Let's go." Draco said, seemingly trying to leave the hallway.

"What are you, a muggle?" James asked, quickly pulling out his wand and pointing it at the door, " _Alohomora"._

The lock shimmered a blue color then unlocked. It slowly slid forward, allowing a small crack that the children used to peer into the room without actually entering. As they looked and listened, they saw a massive dog head and heard snoring, likely coming from said dog. Harry pulled the door open a little wider, giving him a glimpse of a wooden trap door and two more heads of the dog. The door creaked however, and suddenly an eye opened, staring right at them.

Draco saw this and pulled all his friends back from the door and slammed it shut, " _Colloportus"!_ The door locked shut, causing the three-headed dog to slam against it and bark, "Let's get out of here!"

 **September 2** **nd** **, 1991 – Great Hall**

The kids ran from the corridor, almost running straight into Professor Nott, "Running in the hallways I see. Are you enjoying your first day of classes, children?" he said with a slight smirk on his face, "Where is my spawn? Did he not accompany you on your adventures?"

"No, my Lord. He said he wanted to get his potions essay done." Tracey said as she bowed to him in respect.

"I see, I must speak with him about that. I told him to have fun, not sequester himself in his room constantly." He laughed as he ruffled Draco's hair, "Well, I'll see you lot in class on Friday, yes?"

"Yes, my Lord." The kids all said, some more enthusiastically that others.

"Excellent, see you then." He smiled kindly at the kids, "No running in the halls and get to dinner!" He yelled at them as an afterthought when the kids began running again.

"What was that thing?" Daphne said as they took their seats at the Slytherin table.

"What was what?" Sebastian whispered, "Did you guys go to the third-floor corridor already?"

"It was a three-headed dog!" James blurted out, causing Harry to shush him.

"Keep that to yourself, James. We could get in trouble for being there!" Harry whisper angrily, "I don't want to get detention after one day here".

"Three-headed dog? That's a Cerberus guys." Sebastian said after pulling out his "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" book and searching for it, "Says here they are usually found in Greece. Mostly on preservations there. It's classified as a Beast with a rating of XXXX according to the Ministry of Magic. The book says that they aren't too dangerous, just large and have three heads. Obviously, they bite."

"Did you guys see the trapdoor it was standing on?" Harry asked, to which he got several confused looks confirming they didn't see it, "I saw a wooden square on the ground and it looked like one."

"What's so important that they would hid in a castle with a Cerberus above it?" Daphne asked, leaning in to make sure others couldn't hear her.

"What about the Gringotts robbery? You think that connected?" Draco asked, pulling out his newspaper from earlier.

"That's a stretch, Draco." Sebastian responded, not seeing the logic, "What is so important that Dumbledore would risk an entire school to hide. That, I don't know. I guess I'll just ask my Dad."

"Good plan."

 **September 6** **th** **, 1991 – Hogwarts Courtyard**

Harry and his friends stood quietly in a line, each right next to a broom, listening intently to Madam Hooch, "Welcome to your first Flying Lesson. I see the Slytherins already know how this works. Everyone else, please step up to your brooms. Come on now. Hurry up."

The first years shuffled up to their places next to their brooms. Harry remarked to Draco that these brooms weren't even fit for a Weasley to buy since they we in such poor condition.

"Boys, eyes up." The Professor scolded Harry and Draco, "Alright, stick out your hand and say 'Up'"!

Shouts of "Up" rang through the courtyard, with Harry, James, and Draco's brooms immediately snapping into their hands. Daphne, Tracey, and Sebastian quickly followed. However, it seemed that several Gryffindors pupils were struggling. However, a the bushy haired Ravenclaw girl seemed to be struggling more than most.

Draco laughed at the plight and looked to see what Hooch was doing before shouting, "Geez Granger, the only thing dirtier than that broom right now is your blood."

"Boom, roasted." James said as other students cackled at Draco's comment. Hermione just looked down in shame and seemed to have tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Very well. Now, mount your brooms. Grip it tight." Madam Hooch said as she waited for the students to follow directions, "Now when I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off the ground. Hover for a moment, lean forward and touch back down. On my whistle: One… Two... Three..." She blew her whistle and as soon as she had, a pudgy boy seemed to begin floating higher and higher into the air.

"Mr. Longbottom. Mr. Longbottom! Where do you think you are going? Come down here at once!" Madam Hooch yelled at the boy as he seemed to take off towards the castle, screaming like a small child on a rollercoaster.

They children and Madam Hooch watched as Neville slammed broom first into the Great Hall and bounced against it as he seemed to get higher.

"Mr. Longbottom, come down this instant." Hooch yelled, seemingly using a charm to make her voice louder. At that instant, Neville's eyes glossed over, and he fainted off his broom, hurtling towards the Earth below. Madam Hooch almost seemed to roll her eyes as she pulled out her wand, _"Arresto Momentum!"_

Neville's plummet seemed to slow, however he still hit the ground with a thud. Madam Hooch hurried over to appraise her student, "Oh no. Broken wrist. Come on, I'll take you to the hospital wing." She turned to the assembled students, "Everyone must keep their feet on the ground while I take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital. If I see any broom in the air, the one riding it will be out of Hogwarts faster than they can say 'Quidditch'." She shuffled Neville off the courtyard towards the castle, leaving the students with their brooms.

"What are we supposed to do now?" James asked, "Hey look, the squib dropped his ball." James tossed the Remembrall to Draco who smiled evilly before Daphne snatched the ball from him.

"You boys stop it. I'll give it back to him when he gets out of the hospital", she rolled her eyes, "He's not a squib either. Just a Gryffindor. Make fun of people if they deserve it. He has just never been on a broom before." She scolded.

"Yes, mum." Draco said, making the Slytherins snicker.

"Hey snakes!" Ronald Weasley yelled from across the courtyard as the Slytherins made their way inside, assuming the lesson was over for today, "Give me Neville's Remembrall you gits!"

"Language Ronald." Daphne tisked, "No reason to call us gits, I'm Daphne." She stuck out he hand for him to shake, but he just sneered at it, causing her to shake her head and smirk, "I'm taking Neville his ball after he gets out of the hospital. What are you going to do about it?"

"I challenge you to a wizard's duel. Midnight tonight, Seamus is my second." Ronald shot at Daphne, slightly surprising the blonde. All over a Remembrall that wasn't even his?

"How about right now? I'm sure you realize that by challenging me, I get to set the rules and time, correct?" Daphne asked, spinning her wand through her fingers, just itching to be used.

"Fine. Hooch won't be back for a bit." Weasley responded, pulling his wand from his pocket and pointing it at Daphne.

"I name Harry as my second if I fall. Let's get it on. Count us down, Malfoy." Daphne smirked with an evil fire in her eyes and readied her wand.

"Ready GO!" Malfoy said

Ronald struck first, yelling "Wingardrium Levios". But nothing happened, causing the Slytherins to burst out laughing. What was he trying to do, lift Daphne into the air? Daphne wasn't fazed however. Her father had spent years drilling into her dueling styles and course material from the first few years at Hogwarts, making her a formidable duelist to say the least. _Diffindo! Incendio!_ The two spells shot out of her wand and towards the hapless redhead.

The first spell, which Harry recognized as the severing charm, sliced a cut through Ronald's cheek causing him to bleed. Not terribly, but enough to show how serious this was. The next spell impacted his robes, causing his front to catch on fire. _Immobulus! Expelliarmus!_ Ronald was then caught in the freezing charm and his wand ripped from his hand while flying backwards with incredible speed. It didn't help that he was just standing there, not knowing what to do after his first spell had failed.

Daphne plucked his wand out of the air and twirled it in her hand, feeling the coldness of it against her hands. Definitely not the right wand for a back-up. She threw it across the courtyard and smirked at the boy, "I suspect that if I broke your wand, your family wouldn't be able to afford another?"

Ronald just sneered at them as they walked away to their next class.

 **September 6** **th** **, 1991 – Professor Nott's Classroom**

"Good morning children!" Professor Nott began while standing at the newly refurbished classroom, "My name is Timothy Nott; however, you can call me: Lord Nott, my Lord, Professor Nott, or just Professor. I really have no preference. Now, I recognize many of your faces from my son's friends however I wish to get to know you a bit more, so your first assignment will to write a few inches about who you are. I'm not concerned about length, just content. Due next time we meet."

Following his introduction, the Professor began his lecture on attire for formal events such as balls or Ministry events. Soon enough he was bringing several articles of clothing and how to match with your date. As he talked, he noticed that _Ronny Weasley(?)_ was staring daggers into the back of the head of Ms. Greengrass.

"Mr. Weasel? Weasley? Do you have a problem with Ms. Greengrass?" he asked, stopping his lecture.

"No. She's just an evil Slytherin and I hate her", Ronald replied, causing many Slytherin's to roll their eyes.

"I see. 10 points from Gryffindor for putting down a House in class. I can tell you that Slytherin is a fine house", Nott responded, not happy with this spawn of Arthur Weasley.

"Well, your son is one so I'm not surprised you think it's so great. Only evil wizards come from Slytherin," the redhead spat.

"Ooookay then. That'll be another 10 points and detention with McGonagall," the Professor shot back, surprised by the mouth on this first year. He had met seventh years less back talky than him, "And for your information, there were plenty of Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, and Hufflepuffs in the ranks of You-Know-Who during the blood war".

"You would know…" Ron grumbled, not loud enough for Professor Nott to hear but loud enough for Harry to. He frowned at the redhead, "Ginger git."


	9. The One With the Wizengamot

**A/N: One of my friends said that the conversations are too Americanized, which I agree with. If you guys are curious, I am from the Midwest in America, so I struggle with British phrasing. I am working on it while also trying to keep the humor amongst the children.**

 **This chapter will be focused on the adult dealings while the kids are at Hogwarts but there will be kid interactions near the end.**

 _ **Chapter 9: Operation: Muggleborn Protection Act**_

 **September 11** **th** **, 1991 – Wizengamot Meeting**

"The Chair recognizes Lord Amon Diggory, senior member of the Union of Light party", Chief Wizard Dumbledore said as he motioned for the Lord to speak.

Lord Diggory stood after being recognized and bowed towards all assembled, "Chief Wizard, members of the Wizengamot, a tragedy has occurred. For too long, the Pureblood Coalition has used its power to control and prevent the regulation of dark artifacts and.." he stopped as he was interrupted by a shout from the Wizengamot.

"This is outrageous! I object to the member's statement!" Lord Greengrass shouted over the Lord.

"The Chair does not recognize the member of the Pureblood Coalition at this time", Dumbledore replied to Lord Greengrass, causing the Lord to sneer at the Chief Wizard, obviously not satisfied.

"As I was saying, they have prevented the lawful regulation of dark artifacts and use of ancient family grimoires!" Lord Diggory finished, shooting a glare at the Purebloods.

"I object!" Lord Malfoy replied, "Just because your family does not maintain a grimoire does not mean we should not. My family has invented hundreds of spells during our thousand-year residence of this island. Where would we put this information, if not in our grimoire?"

"I suspect there are many DARK spells in that book, Lord Malfoy. Maybe not unforgivable, but dangerous to many. Tell me? How did your ancestor Armand Malfoy help William the Conqueror? Not with cleaning spells and levitation, right? No. There is Battle Magic in those books and they must be seized!" Lord Diggory responded. Garnering some snorts from the Purebloods and even some Light Lords.

"Oh yes. Come and take them, Lord Diggory. Maybe I can use some of those mythical 'Battle Magic' spells against you and your army!" Lord Nott replied, smirking at Light Lord. Everyone already knew that Lord Diggory was one of the more radical Light Lords in the Wizengamot, but this was just another instance in the long line of radical ideas.

"That coming from a Professor at Hogwarts shows how far we have fallen!" Diggory raged, oblivious that he hadn't swayed one member of the Wizengamot. Even some of his own party were telling him to sit down.

"Order! There shall be order!" Dumbledore said as he banged his gavel loudly on his podium, "Lord Diggory, do you have any legislation to offer this body?"

"Not at this time"

"We shall review this issue at a later time then", the Chief Wizard said, nodding at the Light Lord, "We will now be moving on to the bill offered by the Pureblood Coalition, named 'Muggleborn Protection Act'. The Chair now recognizes Lord Sirius Black, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black."

"Thank you, Chief Wizard. Lords and Ladies of this august body, the Pureblood Coalition comes to you today with the "Muggleborn Protection Act'. We have spent many weeks pouring over documentation and historical notes to ensure that this act is fair to all. I have asked Lord Moon to explain the act as he was the one who wrote it." Sirius spoke as he motioned for Lord Gerold Moon to begin.

"It has been many years since I have sponsored a bill in this body, however I believe that this law will benefit our world as well as the Muggle World. Please turn to page 15 of your meeting agenda for the bill. I trust you have all looked at the bill before we met today, so I will waive the reading of the bill." Lord Moon began. It was true that most Lords and Ladies had read the bill before the meeting. Many had already made up their minds, however there were always a few votes up for grabs when the meeting started.

"In overview, there are several parts to this bill. First, we have enacted changes in how Muggleborns are brought into our world. Second, there are restrictions placed on magical orphans being raised in the muggle world. Lastly, the bill repeals the illegality of Blood Adoption potions. The Pureblood Coalition is open to comments and amendments from the floor, Union of Light, or Wizarding Alliance parties." He continued, naming the two other parties that dominated the Wizengamot. Of course, there were independent members, but even those leaned towards specific parties.

The Pureblood Coalition was typically made up the dark houses: Malfoys, Blacks, LeStranges, Rosiers, Greengrasses, Moons, Nott, Goyle, Crabbe, and many others. Recently, the House Potter had been accepted by their coalition since Harry was considered to be a Pureblood. Generally seen as the most aggressive and powerful faction, the Coalition was extremely conservative and resisted any sort of chance that would challenge the balance power. While they were the 2nd largest party, they maintain the most powerful and wealthy Houses. Many outside the Wizengamot chambers believe that the Coalition was the main reason that so many former Death Eaters were able to plead the Imperious and there are plenty of rumors that they use bribes, intimidation, and blackmail to accomplish their goals. Undeniably, there were sub-alliances, such as the Dark Alliance, but they were all under the banner of the Pureblood Coalition.

The Union of Light party was by far the smallest party, being made up of staunch supporters of Dumbledore and his "Greater Good". The Houses of Diggory, Wealsey, Podmore, Jones, Doge, and Diggle were prominently featured. Many Houses that had been a part of this alliance defected to either the Pureblood Coalition (ex. Potter) or to the Wizarding Alliance (ex. Longbottom) following the conclusion of the Blood War, which in turn caused their power to decrease. Albus Dumbledore is viewed as their de facto leader, however Lord Doge is the leader on paper.

The Wizarding Alliance was the largest party in the Wizengamot. Made up of Half-blood or lighter Purebloods, this party was less partisan than the other two parties. Seen as the deciding party, they usually split in two during votes. Each member seemed to represent their own interests rather than an overall party manifesto. Neutral houses generally found themselves in this party, trying not to alienate the powerful purebloods and Dumbledore himself.

Several hands shot into the air, mostly from the Wizarding Alliance party. Chief Wizard Dumbledore spoke as he chose a member to begin the question period, "The Chair recognizes Dowager Lady Longbottom of the Wizarding Alliance party"

"Thank you, Chief Wizard. Firstly, I would like to thank the Pureblood Coalition for bringing this legislation to debate. If we are to pass quality legislation, then we must be able to debate openly and fairly. I have had several questions passed to me as well as my own questions that I wish have answered by the Pureblood Coalition", Augusta Longbottom said as she collected the slips of paper from the Lords and Ladies around her.

"My first question is about how muggleborns are brought into our world. I realize you explain in depth in the bill, however many are wondering the motivations behind the Pureblood Coalition's move to try and help muggleborns integrate".

Lord Gerold Moon stood once again, "Dowager Lady Longbottom, the Pureblood Coalition has no ill intent or ulterior motives for enacting these policies. Many of our members are displeased with the current handling of informing muggleborn children that they are magical. As you can see in the study on Appendix C, on average, we spend 15,000 galleons per muggleborn from the time they are born to when they get their Hogwarts letter by sending Aurors and Obliviation squads to handle accidental magic. So obviously there is a financial incentive for this plan, however the culture shock and suddenness of the reveal of magic to these children is what we are trying to reduce", he continued, shuffling through his notes to get to the correct page, "So, in essence, once a muggleborn magical is detected, a team of trained wizards will be dispatched to the hospital to bind the magic until they reach the age of Eight. I would also turn your attention to Appendix D, which has research conducted by renowned healer Isabelle LeStrange, shows that the magical power a witch or wizard has remains relatively small until their eighth birthday. That is when the core begins to expand and give the child more power. If we were to bind the magic, we would find that costs for cleanup would decrease by 90%."

"Would non-muggleborn children be subject to this law, this binding of magic?" asked a nondescript Lord from the Wizarding Alliance party.

"No, this law would only apply to muggleborns as they are the ones concentrated in muggle areas", Lord Moon replied to the out of turn question, "Dowager Lady Longbottom, I expect you have more questions?"

"Yes. Seeing that we just passed a bill not four months ago about Wizarding Customs and Traditions to be taught at Hogwarts, why do you think it is necessary to add that muggleborn students are not allowed to go home except for summer break?" Dowager Lady Longbottom asked. This was probably the clause that she had the most issue with. Why do we need to keep children away from their parents?

"This is just another step to ensure that the muggleborn children continue to be integrated into our society. When they go home for breaks, they still are immersed in the muggle culture and fail to gain the knowledge of Wizarding traditions. While they can read books about what we do for holidays and whatnot, nothing teaches more than actually being there".

"I understand the logic there. Another question was about the clauses about the adoption of orphaned magical children. Why do you think it is necessary?" she replied as she crumpled up several pieces of parchment that contained redundant or just plain stupid questions.

"These clauses basically make it illegal for any magical child to be raised in a muggle orphanage or with muggles that are not their direct parents. When a magical child becomes an orphan, the Ministry will make them a 'Ward of the Ministry of Magic' and will begin looking for a different magical family to adopt them. While this law is specifically for muggleborns as well, it may be applied to children who are magical and both parents were magical. These magical children deserve to be treated well and I'm sure that many families would take in a muggleborn child if it meant that they wouldn't be brought up in a muggle orphanage".

"Finally, there are many of my colleagues that find it very suspect that the Pureblood Coalition would push for adoptions of magical children from muggle orphanages while also advocating for the repeal of the ban on Blood Adoption potions. Many believe this is a way to steal away muggleborns and blood adopt them in order to create more Purebloods or provide children for those who cannot have any." Lady Longbottom finished.

"I see your point, Lady Longbottom. You are rightful to be skeptical. However, we feel like the second section of this bill really necessitates the Blood Adoption potions. If a muggleborn or magical child becomes an orphan, we believe that the adopting family has the right to adopt that child fully into their family. This way an adopted child is able to carry on titles and seats in this body while also looking similar to the family that took them in".

"What kind of drivel is this? You expect us to repeal a law so that we can go back to the days where Purebloods would steal muggleborn children and then use a potion to turn them into their family? Hah!" shouted Lord Elphias Doge, the Leader of the Union of Light, "I will never vote for a bill so repulsive".

"Lord Doge, perhaps you _should_ vote for this bill, as you have no heirs yourself? I believe that if you fail to produce an heir, your House will be absorbed by the Greengrass line?" Lord Black replied to the Light Lord, smirking all the while. Lord Doge just sputtered for a moment before frowning.

"Is that all from the Light party? No constructive additions or changes?" Lord Moon said, looking over the few Lords that made up that party, "Is there any more questions? No? I move to vote!"

Lord Malfoy stood and seconded the motion, which was followed by Dumbledore rising to address the Wizengamot, "Is there a motion to caucus before the vote?" When no one raised their hands, he continued, "Very well, we will proceed to the vote. On the question of the Muggleborn Protection Act, as many as are of that opinion say Aye".

A chorus of Ayes rang through the chamber, the Purebloods the loudest of those voting. "Of the contrary, No," Dumbledore declared followed by a much more muted chorus of noes. Mostly from the Union of Light party and a few from the Wizarding Alliance, "I think the Ayes have it, the Ayes have it".

"I object!" yelled a Union of Light Lord.

"For what purpose does the Lord from the Union of Light party rise?" the Chief Wizard snapped, obviously not happy about the vote.

"I call for division in the chamber!"

"Those who believe a division is necessary, please rise." Only a few Lords and Ladies rose from their seats, "The chamber does not believe that division is necessary. The state of the vote on the Muggleborn Protection Act is aye. The Chair declares the passage of the Act."

 **September 11** **th** **, 1991 – J &Ls Garden**

"Reservation for Black, Sirius dear." Sirius said as the Dark Alliance Lords made their way into the restaurant following the eventful Wizengamot meeting.

"Of course, Lord Black. Right this way." The hostess motioned for the Lords to follow her as she led them to the private room, "Your server tonight will be Riley. Enjoy." She turned and closed the double doors to the room, activating the silencing wards that would keep out prying ears.

"I liked how you got Doge with that 'you have no kids, so you should vote for it' line, Sirius. That was great!" Alexander said as he grabbed the two liter of Pepsi off the table and poured himself a glass, "What? I like pop!"

"Righto, my friend! Then you got him with the 'House Greengrass get your house when you die' too!" Lord Nott said as he heartily laughed, shaking Sirius' hand.

As the Lords laughed and celebrated their victory, Lord Greengrass sat pensive at the end of the table, obviously preoccupied with his own thoughts. He hadn't even touched his menu when Riley asked him for his order. Alexander finally noticed after over twenty minutes, "Cygnus, what is on your mind? You have barely touched your food or said a word."

"What if Lord Doge was right? As poorly as he worded it, there was a time when Purebloods would steal muggleborns. Do we really want to go back to that?" Cygnus said as their wives arrived to have dinner with them.

"I don't think any of us want to back to those days, Cygnus. But that wasn't the point of the bill. The Dark Lord himself, You-Know-Who, was raised in a muggle orphanage because all his relatives had died. He was mistreated and that created the Dark Lord. We can't let that continue to happen to magical children. Even in Sirius' house, he was never beaten by Walburga. Hated, yes. But never physically hurt. Muggles don't understand magic and they see it as heresy to be beaten out of people." Alexander replied, putting a hand on Cygnus' shoulder, "How would you feel if you and Annabelle died, and Daphne and Astoria were given to an orphanage when there are plenty of magical families that would take them in? Horrible right? We have the space to take care of muggleborns in our world, why not raise them in our world?"

"I guess. It's just hard to imagine as a parent putting your child to bed and the next day not finding them in their bed, mudblood or not", Cygnus replied, still contemplating his vote to pass the bill. He was one of the originators, if he would have withdrawn support it probably would have failed.

"That's what makes you a dad and that bill today didn't make that legal. There are still many checks to ensure that doesn't happen. Plus, I don't think there are many people in our world that would do that. Let me tell you a story about a couple who wanted a child so bad that they would have adopted a mudblood..."

 **1984 – Azkaban Prison**

" _Hello, brother. Long time, no see." Alexander said as he stood at the entrance to Rodolphus' cell in Azkaban. He was flanked by two prison guards who soon moved off, obviously not worried about a breakout, "How are you?"_

" _How am I? HOW AM I?" Rodolphus said as he almost cackled with evil laughter before the guards moved out of hearing range. When they did, his demeanor suddenly changed into a much more sane prisoner, "I am okay, considering the situation I find myself in. The Dementors only patrol the outside of the prison so if you stay away from the windows, it just feels like a regular prison. I can still talk to Rabastan and Bella through the walls, so that is helping. How are you, younger brother? How is the outside world?"_

" _I'm sorry Rodolphus about your living situation, I wish there was some way to move you to a less dementor heavy area however all my suggestions have been rebuffed by the Ministry." Alexander replied to his oldest brother, sadly smiling at him, "As for the outside, nothing much has changed since you all went to prison besides the fall of the Dark Lord. From what I gathered, he was banished from the physical plane when he attacked the Potters.'_

 _He waved off the prison situation with a mere 'no matter' and continued, "Interesting. I should have never let Bella convince me we needed to enact revenge. Perhaps the Dark Lord will rise again to free me from this prison… What about your personal life? Did you ever get married to that brunette from your DADA class, the Ravenclaw?"_

" _No, that never went anywhere. I'm actually married to a French witch that I met while working in France. We have one son currently, James Arthur LeStrange." Alexander said, looking at the armband he had gotten from Isabelle for their anniversary that year. It was a neat design that allowed them to talk from anywhere in the world since they really didn't see each other too often, with her finishing up her Healing Mastery in France and him living in England with James._

" _Good job, Alex. Do you have a picture of your family that I could put on my wall?" Rodolphus asked, motioning to the few pictures he was able to smuggle into the prison. One was of his wedding to Bella, one had the three LeStrange brothers in 1979 all smiling and laughing, and one was of his parents._

" _Of course, here." Alexander handed him a small wizard's picture that showed the seconds before and after the photo was taken._

" _Alex, I want you to know that you did the right thing. I just wish I had been able to save us. Bella and I had our wholes lives ahead of us. We wanted kids, a family. I have heard that Azkaban can make you sterile or infertile which is regrettable. I hope when I get out, I can be the Uncle to James that he needs." He said quietly, sad about how he had ended up in prison and was missing out on being an Uncle and perhaps a father._

 **September 11** **th** **, 1991 – J &Ls Garden**

"Are you really using Rodolphus and Bellatrix LeStrange as an example of who would benefit from this law?" Cygnus asked, not really surprised but more concerned that Alexander still had contact with his family inside Azkaban, "To be honest, I thought you hated your family".

"Yes, I am using them as an example and I learned that we can't choose our family. Bella, Rodolphus, Rabastan… I didn't choose them to be my family and they didn't choose me, but I just can't abandon them to prison. After I left Hogwarts, they supported my decisions. That proved enough to me." Alexander responded, "But I'm getting off track. If Bella and Rodolphus ever get out of Azkaban, I bet you everything I own that they would attempt to blood adopt an orphan magical child. I suspect they will get that chance at some point, Merlin willing."

"I guess we will see", Cygnus replied, nodding his head in slight agreement. He didn't seem convinced but at least he seemed to be more at peace.

 **September 11** **th** **, 1991 – Quidditch Pitch**

"Welcome to the 1991-1992 Slytherin Quidditch Team tryouts. My name is Marcus Flint and I am the captain this year. All positions are open except for one chaser position; however, you must be better than last year's team in order to take a position from one of them. First, we will have last year's team tryout, followed by each year starting with seventh year and continuing to first year", Marcus Flint said as he addressed the assembled Slytherin students. There were plenty of upper year students, however only Draco, James, and Harry had decided to try out as first years. Daphne had talked to Marcus about trying out for seeker but had been rebuffed with 'Girls can't be on the Slytherin team'. She had raged for hours in the common room about sexism and how ridiculous it was that she couldn't even tryout! She even pulled a Draco and had cornered Flint and said that her father would hear about it.

"First, we will start with Keeper tryouts. Miles Bletchley will begin as he was keeper last year. There will be three rounds with myself and Adrian Pucey attempting to score against the keeper. Whoever has the most saves will gain the spot. Who here is trying out for Keeper?" Flint asked as a few hands raised into the air, "Excellent, let's begin".

The Keeper tryouts began with Miles stopping 12 out of 15 attempts. The other three Slytherin's who were trying out were not able to exceed Miles' block ratio, so Miles retained his place on the team. As they were sitting on the grass, Harry, James, and Draco talked amongst themselves about how they were all going to get on the team.

"Wait, I thought we were all trying out for Chasers?" Draco asked, looking at Harry surprised.

"Nah, Sirius said my biological father was an excellent Seeker so I thought I should try out for that. Plus, I'm small so I can go faster than some of the older Slytherins." Harry responded, plucking a piece of grass from the pitch and folding it in half, "Plus, there are only two chaser positions open."

"Don't remind me…" James said, slightly put out. He knew it was unlikely that a first year would even be able to compete with the older students, let alone beat them and earn a place on the team.

"Next is the Beater tryouts. I expect those who are trying out to be able to accurately place a bludger through this hula-hoop I picked up from Tesco. We will start with Lucian Bole and Peregrine Derrick, the Beaters from last year. Let's begin." Flint announced from his position high above the pitch.

These tryouts were about the same as the Keeper with no one really able to prove that they deserved the spots more than Lucian and Peregrine. There was one student that gave Lucian a run for his money, however he had failed to hit the deciding bludger.

"Well done! That was probably the closest I have seen in a while!" Marcus called and he chuckled to himself, "Next, we have chaser tryouts. There are two spots open for this position. Your goal is to make as many goals against Miles as possible in 3 minutes. We will take the top scoring four and each will run routes with myself against Miles to see how good you are at teamwork. We will begin with Adrian Pucey, followed by Graham Montague. Then we will start with seventh years. Let's begin."

Draco and James had stood up at the first mention of Chaser and immediately flew into the air. They waited for what seemed to them like hours, their nervousness seemingly slowing down time. As Marcus moved down the list into third then second year, James could almost hear his heartbeat. Finally, it was time for the first years to tryout.

"LeStrange, James", Marcus read off from the sign-up list Professor Vector had given him. As James leaned forward towards Marcus, his broom accelerating towards the captain. Harry watched as they conversed between each other for a minute before Marcus handed James the Quaffle and motioned for him to begin.

James waited for Miles to get set in the middle of the goals and shot off towards the lower right goal post, Quaffle in his hands. As he approached, Miles got into position, smirking at this first-year's attempt. He hadn't even tried to confuse him. As James approached, he seemed to lose control of the Quaffle and it bobbled in his hands for a second before falling completely out. Miles pushed forwards on his broom, attempting to steal the Quaffle as it fell. Surprisingly, James spun on his broom and snatched the Quaffle back up with ease and hurled it at the opposite goal, earning him a score!

Miles sat on his broom confused, he had never seen something like that before. Granted, there had been plenty of times that a chaser had dropped a Quaffle, but he had never seen a chaser pull a move like that. Plus, he had underestimated the small child. James smiled sweetly before chasing after the Quaffle and starting his run again. Miles shook himself free of his confusion and reset himself, not allowing himself to underestimate James again.

Once again, James shot towards the lower right goal post with incredible speed, causing Miles to sneer. This time, Miles stayed back, ensuring his ability to cover all three goals more efficiently. As James approached, he swerved right towards Miles, seemingly attempting to ram the Keeper, before pulling his broom straight up and tossing the Quaffle into the goal over his head. James was able to score once more in the three-minute window before Marcus said his time was up. As he approached, Draco and Harry were smiling and saying he was 'brilliant' and 'looked like a right Quidditch Star'.

Draco was called up next and went for a more straight forward and brute force approach to scoring. He would charge Miles before veering off to attempt to score. That only worked occasionally and by the end had only scored two times out of his seven tries. James and Harry had also given him congratulations but much more muted than what James had gotten.

Marcus soon put his wand to his neck and spoke, "We have four students who caught my attention during the Chaser tryouts. Adrian Pucey scored five, Graham Montague scored four, Paul Rosier scored four, and Corban Yaxley Jr. scored four. I would also like to congratulate James LeStrange for scoring three impressive goals, I expect you will gain a spot on this team next year."

Harry watched as James threw his broom down in anger and stomped off the field, nearly breaking off some of the broom's bristles. As he left, Harry could hear him grumbling to himself, "Bloody stupid Flint… better than everyone… *James was almost shouting at this point* I DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO BE ON THE TEAM!"

Harry leaned over to Draco as the chaser tryouts continued, "You think he's okay?"

"Yeah, he'll get over it. I think he got it into his head that he was guaranteed a spot with all the moves he learned over the summer. Plus, Lord LeStrange played for the Wimbourne Wasps for a couple years after the war so he wants to make his Dad proud", Draco responded, feeling slightly bad for one of his best friends. While Draco himself hadn't made the team, he knew that it meant a lot to James.

"Okay, looks like Adrian and Graham retain their spots on the team! Congrats guys!" Marcus shouted over the conversations, there were several shouts of 'Bollocks', 'Cheating Wankers', and 'Vector will hear of this!' from the other Slytherins that tried out for the team, "We will now have Seeker tryouts. I will release a snitch and whoever catches it first will be the seeker. Good luck!" Flint said as he popped open the snitch carrier and let the small golden ball fly away. He waited for a few moments before letting the three seeker candidates attempt to find it.

As soon as Marcus began the tryout, Harry shot to the center of the pitch, ascending high into the air. It seemed like that was a good idea to the other candidates as, soon enough, all three were scanning the pitch. Harry smirked as he looked down and dove with incredible speed, grabbing both Terence and Speirs' attention. They both dove with him, believing that Harry had seen the snitch, however as they neared the ground, Speirs soon realized that Harry hadn't seen the snitch and was attempting a Wronski Feint. He slowly pulled up as Harry and Terence continued to dive. They were only six feet from the ground when Harry pulled up hard on his broom, allowing Terence to smash into the ground with a snap and crash. Harry climbed back up to where Speirs was again looking for the snitch. As Harry approached, he smiled at the first year and politely clapped at his well-executed feint. Harry laughed as he caught sight of the golden ball out of the corner of his eye. Harry slowly began to climb again, attempting to look like he was attempting to get a better view. Finally, after inching his way towards the snitch, he took off after it.

Harry weaved through the stands with Speirs struggling to keep up, not that Harry had a better broom, but that Harry was small enough that allowed for better aerodynamics. Soon enough, Harry had caught the snitch and was parading it around to all the other Slytherins, "Well done, Potter. I guess you are the new seeker!" Flint said as he handed Harry the snitch, "Keep it. It's the first one you ever caught."

 **September 14** **th** **, 1991 – Malfoy Manor**

"I hear from my son that Harry made the Slytherin Quidditch team as Seeker, is that true?" Lucius said as he looked up from the Daily Prophet towards Sirius. It was Saturday, and as Dark Alliance Lords do on Saturdays, they were having a good time at one of their Manors while their wives caught up in the parlor.

"Yeah, Harry sent me a letter that night explaining how excited he was to be living up to the Potter name and all that. James would have been proud", Sirius smiled as he took another swig from his tea, "I hear James was not so fortunate?"

"Bloody hell, don't get me started. James sent Harry's memory of his tryout in his angry letter about not making the team and he was brilliant. He executed several excellent trick shots and scored three goals in three tries. A bloody 100% score rate, but that twat Flint went with the guy who scored the most amount of goals. Freaking pissed, I am." Alexander raged, "I should have a word with Professor Vector…"

"Now now, no need to get your knickers in a twist. Alex, you didn't even get on the team your first year", Sirius said, trying to calm his friend down, "Granted, you didn't play like a pro but…" He trailed off, obviously not helping the situation.

"Bloody right. I taught James professional level Quidditch moves. No matter how many goals they score, form always matters more", Alexander said as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

"Eet iz not all bad, Alex. We still 'ave Paige. Perhaps, you can teach her ze Quidditch azwell?" Nicole said as she ran her fingertips across the back of his neck, cause him to smirk.

"Aren't you supposed to be at St. Mungos?" Timothy piped up from the corner, "Didn't they promote you to something?"

"Eet iz true. I waz promoted, 'owever I do not have ze terrible 'ours like resident 'ealers are forced to work! I get ze weekends off!"

"Maybe, perhaps you could take a look at my arm then? Eet iz a bit, 'ow you say, achey." Cygnus said, mocking her accent which caused her to laugh.

"Lord Greengrass, maybe you should set up an appointment, Oui? I do not make house calls", the Healer fired back, causing the adults to laugh. However, as the laugher died down and the room went quiet, realization of what he actually meant began settling into those present. Nicole smiled sadly at the Lord before squeezing Alexander's arm and apparating away.

"Lord Malfoy, thank you for being a gracious host today", Alex said as he stood and followed his wife's lead.


	10. The One With Dumbledore's Spying

**A/N: Thank you for all the encouraging reviews. I really appreciate them, and they make me want to continue writing. This chapter is filled with more backstory of the parents from the Ministry's perspective. This many contradict Sirius' own views of his friends from chapter 4, however bear in mind that the files were created four years after that point and many of their positions have shifted.**

 _ **Chapter 10: Operation: Musings of a White Whiskered Wanker**_

 **September 12** **th** **, 1991 – Charms Classroom**

Harry and his friends filed into the classroom, taking their assigned seats before the class began. Professor Flitwick stood on a pile of books in the front of the classroom, waving his wand which caused the chalk to write on the blackboard. Harry smiled at the half-goblin as Draco and James sat down on either side of him. Sirius had told him that Flitwick had been his mother's favorite teacher at Hogwarts, so he hoped that he would like the professor as well.

"Like I was saying, Harry is the youngest seeker in like a century. Crazy." James said as he pulled his book from his satchel, "I just wish I was on the team".

"I thought you were over this after talking to Astoria…" Harry groaned, annoyed at James' near constant complaining about not making the team. After five hours of complaints yesterday, Draco had literally shoved James' mirror in front of him and told him to complain to Astoria. He had stopped complaining after that, but he seemed to have woken up ready to complain today.

"Shut it, LeStrange. I don't want to hear it. Make the team next year…" Daphne huffed, obviously listening in on their conversation. James just turned around and stuck his tongue out at her. As the Slytherins fought, the Gryffindor first years were taking their seats, or at least the ones that hadn't been taken yet.

"Good morning class!" Professor Flitwick said, once again climbing to the top of the book tower he had created to teach, "Today we will again be practicing the Levitation Charm, _Wingardium Leviosa_. Remember swish and flick. Let's spend *he looked at the clock* 30 minutes practicing this morning. Begin."

Soon enough, there were shouts and whispers of _Wingardium Leviosa_ permeating the classroom. Harry and several of the other Slytherins seemed to lazily cast the charm, each causing their feather to rise into the air. When Flitwick noticed that many Slytherins had already mastered the charm, he clapped and awarded them each ten points. Draco smirked as he cast an _Incendio_ onto his feather, which was some fifteen feet into the air. The feather quickly burned up and Flitwick smiled broadly and awarded him ten more points for a well-cast fire spell.

"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA," shouted Ronald as he waved his wand in an absurd pattern, causing the several nearby Slytherins to roll their eyes. As the ginger continued his theatrics, Sebastian, who was regrettably sitting next to him seemed to be getting angry.

"Quit it you ginger prat! You are going to take my eye out! Besides you're saying it wrong, idiot. It's Levi-ohhhh-sa not Leviso-sahhhh," Sebastian yelled, demonstrating the swish and flick of his wand.

"Oh yeah, if you're so clever, why don't you do it?" Ronald said frowning at the Slytherin. James and Harry raised their eyebrows at the near argument. Sebastian never yelled.

"Fine. _Wingardium Leviosa!"_ Sebastian practically screamed as he jabbed his wand at the feather in front of him. The feather shot into the air, hovered for a moment, then shot directly into Ronald with as much force as a feather could have.

"Mr. Nott, next time, can you not use your anger to fuel your spell? You will find that your spells are much more _precise."_ Flitwick said as he wordlessly summoned Sebastian's feather back from the ground after it had impacted Ron.

A second later, a feather suddenly exploded in the face of Seamus Finnigan, bringing some much-needed comic relief to the otherwise tense situation.

 **September 12** **th** **, 1991 – Hogwarts Grounds**

"Did you hear him? 'It's Levi-ohhhh-sa not Leviso-sahhhh'. What a nightmare. No wonder he spends all his time reading!" Ron laughed as he talked to Dean and Seamus ten feet in front of the Slytherins. Neville used to hang out with the other boys, but he had taken offense when Ron called Daphne names after she had given him his Remembrall back.

Harry noticed Sebastian's fists clinching and his face contorting into a furious glare towards the ginger. Harry grabbed Sebastian and pulled him aside, causing the other Slytherin first years to stop and look at them questioningly. Harry told them to not wait up and they would meet them at Herbology.

"Hey Seb, what's up? You never get this angry…" Harry asked, concerned for his quiet friend.

Sebastian was still furious, his breathing short and forced, "Why does that ginger prat have to be so ungrateful? He is lucky to be a wizard and have magic! But he doesn't care about learning, bothers others when they are trying to do their work, and constantly is saying mean things to others if they show any sort of intelligence."

"I understand. It's hard when wizards or witches are apathetic towards their magic, not wanting to expand their knowledge or anything…" Harry said, as he pulled him along towards Herbology, not wanting to be late. As they entered the greenhouse, Draco sighed loudly.

"So, if Professor Sprout isn't here within ten minutes, I say we leave," Draco said as he spun his want through his fingers, already looking bored.

"We can't just leave. What if she shows up after eleven minutes?" Tracey questioned, not wanting to lose their house a bunch of points for skipping their class.

"Maybe we should study what was supposed to be taught today?" Hermione said, as she bit her lip nervously.

"Ehhhh. I say we just leave," James retorted, staring at the plants before him. They looked kind of dangerous to him. It seems that the plant had teeth which scared him. He was brought of his musings when the portly Herbology professor arrived.

"Good morning children! Sorry I was late, I had a meeting with Professor Dumbledore this morning and it ran long!" Professor Sprout said as she bustled through the door in the greenhouse, "Shall we begin?"

"Dang", Harry said under his breath as his hopes for leaving early were dashed.

 **September 15** **th** **, 1991 – The 'Greengrass' Private Study Room (Library)**

 _*Knock* *Knock*_

James slightly jumped at the knocks on the door to the Slytherin study room. Slytherin's could just touch the handle and the lock would unlock, so obviously it wasn't a Slytherin at the door. He spun around in his swivel chair and pulled the door open, revealing a nervous looking Ravenclaw.

"Uh… Hi. Sebastian said I should come here to study?" Hermione said, once again anxiously biting her bottom lip. James looked to Sebastian for confirmation before motioning for her to enter the spacious room.

"Woah," she said, surprised by how big the inside was compared to what it looked like on the outside. The room was probably barely the size of a coat closet before the expansion charms and protective wards had been installed, "I didn't realize Slytherin had this room. I just thought it was a closet."

"Yeah, Lord Greengrass paid for it to be expanded when our parents renovated the Slytherin living quarters…" Draco replied, look even looking up from his essay, "You can only enter if you are Slytherin or invited by a Slytherin in the room. Not many Slytherins use it though, most prefer to study in the common room or their own rooms."

Hermione softly smiled at the blonde, surprised that he didn't say anything mean to her. She made her way to sit by Sebastian, who was surrounded by Daphne, Tracey, and Draco. He pulled a chair between himself and Daphne and motioned for her to sit. She gladly accepted as Draco rolled his eyes at how nice Sebastian was being. Nott had to stop himself from saying mudblood every time he spoke about Hermione, but suddenly he is the most chivalrous boy at Hogwarts.

"So, Hermione, how are you adapting to the Wizarding World?" Daphne asked, trying to break some of the tension that had been strangling the room since Hermione had arrived, "Are you enjoying your classes?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I know your name?" Hermione responded as she pulled out her study materials from her bag.

"Greengrass, Daphne Greengrass," Daphne retorted, "The other girl is Tracy Davis. We rode together in the boat before our sorting the first night we were here…" She pointed to the dark-haired girl who was scribbling away on her parchment, which seemed to be a small essay about Transfiguration. She had drawn a matchstick with an arrow pointing to a needle, showing the transfiguration which, they had been discussing in class.

"Ohhhh. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to those around me that night. I was more taking in the sight of Hogwarts," she said, almost forgetting about the questions Daphne had asked, "Oh yeah, I love being at Hogwarts! It's such a different experience than I was expecting. Mostly good, although there are some that probably don't want me here." Her eye flicked to Draco, "There's a red-headed Gryffindor who is very mean to me. Which reminds me, why are you all being so nice to me? Usually I don't last one minute before there is an unkind joke about my blood…"

"Sebastian said we have to be nicer because you are trying to learn more about wizarding culture and our traditions… Also, he said he would kick me in the crotch if I said anything mean." James said from down the table, obviously listening in on their conversation.

"Of course! I want to learn everything about Magic. I read all the course books before the term even began." Hermione said as she pulled out several books from her bag, enthusiastically discussing the History of Hogwarts and what she had learned about the Wizarding World. Daphne and Sebastian were listening politely as they worked on her their own homework, offering information if Hermione had any questions about their world.

"Wait, so House Elves are basically slaves?" Hermione asked after James explained that House Elves made the food served at the meals in Hogwarts and weren't paid, "That's awful!"

All the Slytherins were surprised by her anger, having grown up with the elves. They sat silently, thinking about how to respond until Harry spoke up, "I'm not sure that slavery is the right word…" Hermione was about to start her rant, but Sabastian told her to wait, "I mean, I don't know too much about elven magic, I do know that they need to be bonded to a wizard or witch in order to live, although there are exceptions." Harry said as the thought out loud.

"That's right! I know that House Elves can bond to some magically powerful locations, like the ministry or Hogwarts," James responded, having finished his homework a while ago.

"But do the elves have to do what you say?" Hermione asked, still angry about this almost-slavery.

"Yeah…" Harry said, seeing Hermione's point, but they will die if they don't bond with us!"

"But that doesn't make it right! You should pay them!" Hermione responded hotly, obviously getting irritated with the Slytherins.

"Well, my family bought them so they we don't have to pay them," Draco retorted as he sneered at the Ravenclaw.

"You bought them! That IS slavery!" Hermione yelled.

"Can we just agree to disagree?" Harry said sheepishly,

The children spent the next three hours writing papers and taking gossip breaks. Daphne seemed to know everything that was going on in the castle, much like her own father. Hermione had more or less been accepted by the group of Slytherins, even though several of them still believed that she was below them.

"So, Granger, why does Weasel hate you so much?" Draco asked, as he picked up his things off the table and placed them into his bag. It was getting close to dinner and he wanted to goof around with his friends before bed.

"He says that I have big teeth and I'm a know-it-all, but it's not my fault he doesn't study and gets poor grades. The nerve of that boy! He asked me to do his potions essay for him! I'm not even in his class!" Hermione said, obviously annoyed with that red-headed menace.

A muttered, "But you are a know-it-all" was heard from Harry in the background but was soon shushed by James before Hermione or Sebastian could hear.

"Well, if you hit him with a good curse, maybe he will leave you alone? Daphne cursed him and now he just glares at her…" Harry said, basically encouraging violence which surprised Hermione. That was supposed to be the Boy-Who-Lived not some violent child!

"I'll take it under advisement, thanks." Hermione responded, disapprovingly.

"I guess it's time for us to go. Goodbye, mudblood." Draco said as he darted off before Sebastian could hex him. The rest of the Slytherins just laughed at his antics when Hermione nervously joined in.

"Let me give you some advice, Hermione." Sebastian said as he stopped her outside the Library, allowing the rest of the Slytherin first-years to get a few yards ahead of them, "Never forget what you are, the rest of the world will not. Wear the title 'Mudblood' like armor and it can never be used to hurt you."

 **September 15** **th** **, 1991 – Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts**

Headmaster Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, quietly humming to himself a tune he couldn't place, as an owl flew into his office with a large package hanging by its talons. He smiled at the Ministry Owl and handed it a piece of bacon as he untired the package. Once the owl had taken its leave, Dumbledore ripped the packaging to reveal a Department of Magical Law Enforcement seal and letter.

 _Dear Chief Wizard,_

 _Attached are the files you requested in regards to the Pureblood Coalition's members. Please be aware that as Chief Wizard, while you have the authority to request any file in the Ministry's archives, it is highly unusual to request dossiers on political opponents. I have reported your actions to the Minister and will make the Wizengamot aware of them at the next meeting._

 _Good Day, Amelia Bones – Director of the DMLE_

Albus rolled his eyes at the audacity of the newly appointed Director. Maybe he shouldn't have recommended her to Cornelius? Perhaps, but the past is in the past.

He shuffled through the files, looking for several specifically: Sirius Black, Cygnus Greengrass, and Alexander LeStrange. All of whom, he believed, could be used to break the party apart in some way. He finally found the file on Sirius, which had the big bold statement of "Top Secret – Classified as Political Target" on the front. This classification was reserved for political members of the Wizengamot and was only accessible to be viewed by the Chief Wizard and the Department Head of the DMLE, which was nice for Dumbledore.

 _ **File Compiled by Amelia Bones, Senior Auror - 1990**_

 _ **Name**_ _: Sirius Orion Black_

 _ **Parents:**_ _Orion Arcturus Black, Walburga Black_

 _ **Grandparents**_ _: Arcturus Black III, Melania Black, Pollux Black, Irma Black_

 _ **Siblings:**_ _Regulus Arcturus Black (Imprisoned)_

 _ **Blood Status:**_ _Pureblood_

 _ **Hogwarts House:**_ _Gryffindor_

 _ **Wizengamot Allegiance:**_ _Pureblood Coalition_

 _ **Wand Composition**_ _: Unknown at this time._

 _ **Titles**_ _: Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, Regent of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter_

 _ **Residency:**_ _Current residency is unknown; however, Ministry correspondence is conducted through 12 Grimmauld Place._

 _ **Spouse:**_ _None._

 _ **History in Wizengamot and in general:**_ _Believed to have been a moderate before his ascension to Lord Black, Sirius Black has seemed to have changed his opinions on many issues following his joining of the Pureblood Coalition in 1986. While Lord Black was best friends with Lily and James Potter, even going as far as the blood adopt their only son after their deaths, Lord Black has pushed for more ministry control over Muggleborns and what positions they may hold in the Ministry. He seems to have adopted his Grandfather's view that Muggleborns often attempt to reshape our world into the muggle world and believes that neither world is compatible with the other. He has voted in favor on several bills restricting muggleborns to lower level ministry jobs for that reason._ _Overall assessment: Blood Purist Sympathizer_

 _His closer ties to the Dark elements of the Wizengamot following the Blood War have also brought up questions about his loyalties during the war. In the aftermath and trials of suspected Death Eaters, the Black family name was brought up several times. While most comments made by convicted Death Eaters were unable to be corroborated, many members of the public now believe that even though Lord Black was a member of the DLME at the time of the war, he was complacent in the Dark Lord's reign of terror. This seems to be a contradiction, considering that his best friends, James and Lily Potter, were killed by Lord Voldemort at the end of the war. In regards to Harry Potter, Lord Black said that following the perceived betrayal of his friend, Peter Pettigrew, he took the young Potter into hiding to raise him 'the right way'. When asked to elaborate, Lord Black refused, citing Wizengamot Member privilege to not answer._

 _Lord Black, like all of age members of Pureblood families, was interviewed (as mandated by Wizengamot decree that all wizards or witches with a convicted Death Eater in their family tree must be interviewed) following his reappearance from hiding with Harry Potter. The interview did not involve the truth serum or any compulsion charms for him to tell the truth, but the Aurors who conducted the interview felt that he was being truthful. He revealed that Peter Pettigrew (missing) was the secret keeper to James and Lily Potter's Fidelius charm. Lord Black believes that that Dark Lord Voldemort was forced to pry the secret out of the mind of Mr. Pettigrew as he believed that he would have never betrayed his friends willingly and was not a Death Eater. He said that after thinking about the events of that night for many years, 'Peter didn't 'fit the build' of a Death Eater'._ _It is unknown whether Peter Pettigrew was in fact a Death Eater or not as he has been missing since the end of the war._

 _Lord Black was also asked about his relationship with his cousin, Bellatrix LeStrange nee Black, and his brother-in-law Rodolphus LeStrange. While he said that he had not seen or spoken to them since they were imprisoned in Azkaban, he did defend his communication with Bellatrix as he stated that, "She was still my cousin, even though she made poor choices…" This is a curious statement coming from Lord Black, however I believe that he is being genuine when he says that family is important to him, especially after his Grandfather's death._

 _The last questions revolved around his relationship with his brother, Regulus Black. Regulus was captured following the attack on Longbottom Manor by Bellatrix LeStrange, Rodolphus LeStrange, Rabastian LeStrange, and himself. Convicted for the use of the Unforgivable Cruciatus Curse on Alice and Frank Longbottom, which drove them both into insanity, Regulus has spent the last nine years in Azkaban Prison. Sirius admitted to visiting him once or twice over the previous years, however he cited that the Ministry has no restrictions on visiting Azkaban, just not many people with the Dementors being present._

 _His close relationships with Alexander LeStrange, Timothy Nott, and Cygnus Greengrass are also of concern. With the inclusion of Lucius Malfoy, this block within the Pureblood Coalition seems to control the votes of most of the other Purebloods, may that be through agreement in policies or intimidation. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement also believes that many department heads and ministry officials are bribed to look the other way in regards to many situations that affect the Pureblood Lords,_ _however these claims cannot be proven at this time._

 _Finally, Lord Black is the adopted father and guardian of Harry James Potter, the last scion of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, which grants him access to both the Black Family vaults and the Potter Family vaults, making him one of the richest men in Wizarding Britain. This also gives the man two votes in the Wizengamot as compared to one vote that most other members hold. Since he was named Regent Potter, he has pulled the Potter vote over to the Pureblood Coalition, an area that the Potter's haven't been a part of in many generations. It is unclear if Harry Potter will have the same views as his father, however it is believed that Harry Potter is friends with many of the children from the Pureblood Coalition, so it is likely that he will._

 _My overall assessment is that Lord Sirius Black has more secrets than many of the public believe. While he was awarded the Order of Merlin, Third Class for his actions in saving Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived from Death Eaters, he seems to have ulterior motives for his actions._

Professor Dumbledore already knew most of what he had read about Lord Black, even though he was surprised by the fact that the Ministry believed he was a blood purist sympathizer. While he had known Sirius before and during the Blood War, Albus didn't believe that Sirius would cast aside his progressive views about muggleborns or anything. However, it would not be the first time he was wrong.

He thumbed through the rest of the Pureblood files until he landed Alexander LeStrange, another Gryffindor from Sirius' class. He untied the bindings on the file and began to peruse it as well.

 _ **File Compiled by Amelia Bones, Senior Auror - 1990**_

 _ **Name**_ _: Alexander Corvus LeStrange_

 _ **Parents:**_ _Radolphus LeStrange II (father), Evelyn Selwyn (mother)_

 _ **Grandparents**_ _: Radolphus LeStrange I (paternal grandfather), Liliana Yaxley (paternal grandmother), maternal grandparents deceased._

 _ **Siblings:**_ _Rodolphus LeStrange, Rabastian LeStrange_

 _ **Blood Status:**_ _Pureblood_

 _ **Hogwarts House:**_ _Gryffindor_

 _ **Wizengamot Allegiance:**_ _Pureblood Coalition_

 _ **Wand Composition**_ _: Unknown at this time._

 _ **Titles**_ _: Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of LeStrange_

 _ **Residency:**_ _LeStrange Manor_

 _ **Spouse:**_ _Isabelle LeStrange_

 _ **History in Wizengamot and in general (Contains Speculation):**_

 _Not much is known about Lord Alexander LeStrange's childhood, however judging by his affiliation and last name, it is not a stretch that he may retain some of his family's blood purist views. The research on him and his voting history shows that his views are similar to that of his late father. While he spent most of the Blood War either in Hogwarts or overseas in France as an_ _emissary to French Ministry of Magic, Lord LeStrange seemed to be deeply knowledgeable about the war effort even while overseas. This could have been related to the fact that he was sent by Caldwell Yaxley (known Death Eater, deceased) who was the Director of International Magical Cooperation at that time to spy on the French for the Dark Lord. However, this is uncorroborated and speculation._ _Overall assessment: Suspected Blood Purist, Possible Former-Death Eater_

 _Following the death of Radolphus LeStrange II and the conviction of his brothers, Alexander LeStrange rose to the rank of Lord of his House. This seems to have caused him to shift from his more progressive views that were present while he was at Hogwarts to more conservative and hardline views. However, Lord LeStrange is very progressive in regards to his views on 'Beings', meaning any creature that has sufficient intelligence to understand the laws of the magical community and to bear part of the responsibility in shaping those laws, because his wife, Isabelle LeStrange is classified as a 'Being' as she is a Veela. His wife's status is an open secret, not acknowledged by the LeStrange family or any of the Pureblood Coalition. There have been several questions raised internally by members of the Coalition if any LeStrange children can be members of the Coalition, however it seems to have been accepted that the LeStrange family will still be classified as a Pureblood House._ _The reason for this is unknown at this time._

 _Lord LeStrange seems to have a major contradiction between his policies and his wife's background. In one breath, he may say that muggleborns must integrate more with Wizarding culture before we allow them more positions in government while also advocating for the easing of restrictions on beings. However, there are several members of his Wizengamot staff that are muggleborn, so there is a possibility that his positions may change in the future._

 _Lord LeStrange, like all of age members of Pureblood families, was interviewed (as mandated by Wizengamot decree that all wizards or witches with a convicted Death Eater in their family tree must be interviewed) following defeat of the Dark Lord Voldemort and the beginning of the search for Harry Potter. His interview did not involve the use of the truth potion or compulsion charms, however the Aurors that interviewed him felt that he was dodging questions and bending the truth. He also refused to answer several questions regarding his time in France, citing that his time there was not relevant to his lack of affiliation with Lord Voldemort. Alexander LeStrange denied being associated with the Dark Lord but did not deny that he was in contact with his brothers and father during the war. He stated that while they were Death Eaters, they were still family. Currently, Lord LeStrange has not disowned either brother from the LeStrange family, giving credence to the speculation that he sympathizes with the Dark Lord._

 _He was also called to testify at the trials of both Rabastian and Rodolphus, however he said that he could not offer any defense for their actions and believed that they deserved prison. Many felt that this will put a target on his back if his brother's ever escape from Azkaban, but it seems that they have mended their issues following his many visits to the prison. The Aurors who accompanied him on those visits stated that the imprisoned brothers admitted that it wasn't Lord LeStrange's testimony that sent them to prison, but their actions and the fact that they were caught._

 _My overall assessment is that Lord Alexander LeStrange has adopted many of his late father's beliefs about magical elitism and would agree with many policies against muggleborns. While he was friends with the Potters during Hogwarts, it seems that the last ten years has made him cynical towards muggleborns. The DMLE should be careful interacting with the LeStrange family as they have power friends and allies, both in the Wizengamot and in the Ministry itself._

Dumbledore set down the file, pensively looking out the window towards the towers of Hogwarts and the Black Lake. How could he have let so many of the children he educated turn out so cynical and Dark? Perhaps if he had spent less time… Fawkes trilled at his thinking, bringing him out of his pessimistic musings. "You're right Fawkes, I can't control what other wizards do, only what I am doing…" He set several more files on his desk, finally finding the last file he wanted to read – _Cygnus Greengrass._ As he opened the file, Dumbledore noticed a few dozen photographs in one of the side pockets, which he vowed to look at later.

 _ **File Updated by Amelia Bones, Senior Auror - 1990**_

 _ **Name**_ _: Cygnus Paul Greengrass II_

 _ **Parents:**_ _Cygnus Paul Greengrass I (deceased), Elizabeth Travers_

 _ **Grandparents**_ _: Maternal and Paternal Grandparents - deceased_

 _ **Siblings:**_ _None_

 _ **Blood Status:**_ _Pureblood_

 _ **Hogwarts House:**_ _Slytherin_

 _ **Wizengamot Allegiance:**_ _Pureblood Coalition_

 _ **Wand Composition**_ _: Unknown at this time._

 _ **Titles**_ _: Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass_

 _ **Residency:**_ _Greengrass Manor, Northern Scotland_

 _ **Spouse:**_ _Annabelle Greengrass_

 _ **History in Wizengamot and in general: This file has been updated to include information from 1981-1990:**_ _Following the defeat of the Dark Lord Voldemort, Lord Greengrass was charged with terrorism and murder as he was believed to have been a Death Eater. During his trial, he plead that he was placed under the Imperious Curse by the Dark Lord himself and was unable to shake the curse. The Wizengamot ruled that he was indeed held under the Imperious curse during the war and would not be responsible for the acts that he was charged with. Although there was evidence to support that the Dark Mark must be taken under your own free will, Lord Greengrass argued that he had taken it willingly at the beginning, however when the Dark Lord began murdering people, Lord Greengrass attempted to leave which made the Dark Lord put him under that curse. For this trial, the truth potion was not administered as the Law states that veritaserum cannot be used on Lords or Ladies of the Wizengamot without their consent, and thus Lord Greengrass did not consent._

 _However, if Lord Greengrass' voting history is any indication of his personal views, then it would not be a stretch to assume that his ideals would line up very similarly with the Dark Lord Voldemort's views._ _Overall Assessment: Blood Purist, Acquitted Death Eater_

 _Not much information is known about Lord Greengrass previous to his arrest beyond being a Slytherin at Hogwarts and his family owning many different shops in Diagon Alley. However, it is known that after his trial and acquittal, Lord Greengrass pursued a Mastery in Transfiguration and Potions, becoming one of the few under thirty-five-year-old Wizards in Britain to have a double Mastery. Many believe that he has been applying at Hogwarts, so he could teach Transfiguration there, however he seems to be using his Potions Mastery quite effectively, having invented several potions._

 _In the Wizengamot, Lord Greengrass seems to hold a lot of sway over many of the Pureblood and Half-blood Lords, which is surprising as many believe he is quite introverted and reserved. However, it seems he uses his voice to sway Wizengamot members or ministry officials themselves in certain directions outside of the meeting room. This is shown by the photographs included in this file, each of Lord Greengrass meeting with some Wizengamot member or an official. While not illegal to have friends and get favors, the DMLE is convinced that there is something sinister going on._

Dumbledore sat quietly as he thumbed through the pictures of Lord Greengrass meeting with different officials over the years. Fudge was a consistent one, along with Lord Malfoy and several of the other Dark Houses, but the most curious photos were of him meeting with Bartemius Crouch Jr. and Quirinus Quirrell. "Why would Lord Greengrass need to meet with either of those men?" Dumbledore thought aloud, "Bartemius Jr. is more understandable, being the son of Barty Crouch Sr, but why Professor Quirrell?"


End file.
